The Durango Public Library has revised its materials review policy in response to new state guidelines that allow residents to challenge library materials. The policy mandates that challengers’ names remain public and limits challenges to once every two years. This change comes amid a nationwide increase in challenges to library materials, with Colorado seeing 142 attempts to restrict access in 2023 alone. Library officials emphasize that the updates aim to enhance transparency and maintain access to diverse resources for the community. By Sadie Smith. This story is sponsored by Payroll Department and Dunkin’ Donuts.
Transcript
Book bans are gaining national attention as states, cities, and schools debate whether to remove certain books from their stacks. Durango Public Library, like most libraries, has a policy in place to review challenged materials. A recent update to state guidelines means the library has also updated its policy, which outlines the process for removing a title or relocating it to another section. You’re watching the Local News Network, brought to you by Dunkin’ Donuts and the Payroll Department. I’m Sadie Smith. This policy comes after a 65% increase in challenges to library materials nationwide in 2023 compared to 2022, the highest rate in over 20 years. Such challenges can lead to restrictions or removal of access to certain books in schools and public libraries.
Our library reconsideration is just how people from the public can challenge materials to either be moved to a different part of our collection or so that they can be removed from the library completely. The only changes that come with this new Colorado State bill is that we now have to inform people that there is a Colorado Open Records Act requirement. So anyone putting in a request for reconsideration, that is now a public record that could be searched with the core request. The only other change is now there is a limitation that an item cannot be challenged more than once in a two year period.
In 2023, there were 12 efforts in Colorado to restrict access to books, resulting in a total of 142 challenges to various titles. The updated policy at Durango Public Library means when a book title is challenged, the individual who submits the challenge will be informed their name and address will be part of the public record. Additionally, it limits the number of times a title can be challenged within a set year. But because of the transparency of the challenge process, interested individuals will be able to see what titles have been challenged and when.
It’s a Colorado Open Records Act. So anything we do, any communication we have in around it, all of that is subject to just a simple open records request with the city clerk’s office, and we provide every single file we have on it. So it’s extremely transparent. And fairly as we have professional selectors who look at this and will use the same criteria for every single item.
This policy change is not predicted to have a significant impact on the Durango community. However, since it’s a statewide change, it may have greater effect in other Colorado towns.
I don’t think these in policy changes will impact the larger Durango community in La Plata County because we’ve only had one challenge in the last seven years and well before my time and I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon. However, there are a lot of communities in Colorado that are kind of a hotbed for these kinds of challenges, and so I think those areas will be heavily affected and I think it will probably be tested in the courts because it’s going to be very contentious for some communities.
According to the American Library Association, the Library Bill of Rights emphasizes that libraries must actively resist censorship and provide information that reflects all perspectives. It also specifies that books cannot be challenged solely due to partisan or doctrinal disapproval, meaning that a challenge is most often based on material that is considered as sexually explicit, contains explicit language, and materials that are suited to any age group,
But nationwide, we have a lot of data, fortunately, and the trend is most of the challenges, the great majority, have to do with LGBTQIA+ materials, especially in youth writing, either for teens or kids. And the other one is issues dealing with racial justice. Providing diverse materials in this community is community values. It’s what our community values most.
For more information on challenging materials at a national level, visit the American Library Association’s website. For local details check out the City of Durango’s website. For more information about this and other stories, visit durangolocal.news. Thank you for watching this edition of the Local News Network, I’m Sadie Smith.
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