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During a Garfield County Libraries board of trustees meeting in May, a library patron told Garfield County libraries that an employee at their Parachute branch shouldn’t work there, because the patron thought the employee was transgender.
Those meetings rotate between branches, and the most recent one took place on June 2 at the Carbondale branch.
Garfield County Libraries Executive Director Jamie LaRue said the only thing that matters to him is that employees do their jobs, and do them well, and he believes their staff does an exemplary job serving the community.
He also said it’s illegal to discriminate against any employee on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation, so they couldn’t fire an employee for being transgender anyways.
“Then we heard from many people in the Carbondale community who were there to speak up on behalf of the LGBTQ community,” he said, referencing the June meeting. “And I think the best way that we solve community issues like this is with open dialogue, with the whole community.”
Another complaint that arose during the May-meeting in Parachute came from one patron who felt that there were not enough books that expressed conservative viewpoints.
“We tend to buy whatever people ask for,” was LaRue’s reply. “So if you come in and you can't find what you want … first thought, it might be checked out because somebody else wanted it and you can just put it on hold.”
James Larsen, the libraries’ communications director, says they’ve also gotten backlash on the Pride Month displays they’ve put up, as well.
“But the idea is that you make a good library by adding things, not by removing them,” LaRue said in response to those criticisms.
He says the library is a place where people can go to explore new ideas, which is why they put up displays for Pride Month, which showcases books with LGBTQ stories.
“We think that the purpose of the library is to collect the human story, and that includes LGBTQ people,” he said.
But despite criticism, Larsen also said the libraries' booth at Glenwood Springs Pride was very popular. There, they handed out buttons with various pride flags and slogans that said things like “read banned books.”
“You know, just a very simple thing, but I think it had a big impact for people to know that the library is there to support them and this group that’s often disenfranchised,” he said.
The next Garfield County Libraries board meeting will be at the Glenwood Springs branch on July 6.
