About l00 people filled the Calaway Room and spilled into the hall at the Carbondale Library Thursday for the monthly Garfield County Library Board meeting. The hot topic was Rifle resident Trish O’Grady’s complaint about pornographic material at the Silt library. Reporter Amy Hadden Marsh has more.
"Marsh: The discussion was lively during a half hour public comment period at Thursday’s meeting. Several people supported Trish O’Grady’s complaints about Prison School, a Japanese manga (MAHN-ga) series, written and illustrated by Akiro Hiramoto. The books were first acquired by the Garfield County Library District in March, 2020.
O’Grady has written letters to local papers, drawing attention to the books, and handed a petition with 844 signatures to the Library Board on Thursday.
She claims certain books from the Prison School series are pornographic and should not be placed where children have access to them. And, she wants the library to do something about it.
O'Grady: These materials need to be in a locked bookcase placed in an employee area, or a separate room marked as "Adult Only" at each of the locations. Furthermore, these materials need to be checked out by a library employee who has the responsibility to require an I.D. to prove the person is 18 years or older. If these requirements are not met, then we request all materials of the aforementioned warnings be removed from the library inventory.
Marsh: Garfield County Library Executive Director Jamie LaRue told KDNK that this is a 1st Amendment issue.
LaRue: You don't have to like everything you see in a library. It's okay to come in and say you disagree with something and advocate for, you know, whatever you want. But, my feeling about this one is that libraries don't exist to restrict access; we exist to expand access.
Marsh: All three Garfield County Commissioners attended Thursday’s meeting."