Garfield County commissioners on Monday appointed a new trustee and reappointed an incumbent to the public library board, a decision that could inform how the libraries respond to ongoing book challenges. The two appointees disagree on whether the county's six libraries should restrict access to books with mature content.
Commissioners unanimously chose Tela Forehand, chief financial officer of construction company Top Notch Logworks, to represent the Silt area. The seat is being vacated by board president Adrian Rippy-Sheehy, who is term-limited. They also reappointed John Mallonee, an attorney and the library board's treasurer, to a second term in the at-large seat. Both five-year terms begin Jan. 1.
The appointments come amid a yearslong push led by a small group of residents to restrict all books with publisher-provided parental advisory warnings. The group is particularly concerned about two Japanese graphic-novel series that depict sexual scenes, including one that features LGBTQ+ characters, and wants those restricted or removed entirely.
In response to a citizen petition in 2023, the county commissioners took control of choosing library trustees, a process that had long been led by the library board, with commissioners granting final approval of appointments.
Nine people applied for the two open library board positions: three for a seat to represent Silt and six for the at-large position. Among them were Caleb Waller, a Silt business owner who ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for state House District 57 in 2024; former library district director Jamie LaRue, who retired in April; and Ashley Stahl, a prominent advocate for LGBTQ+ rights.
A newcomer and an incumbent
Forehand grew up across the street from the Silt branch library. During the applicant interviews Nov. 4, Forehand said she has attended library board meetings for several years and previously applied for the library district's finance manager position.
Forehand told county commissioners and library trustees that she believes the libraries should have stricter policies in place to prevent children from accessing books with mature content and that she would support moving these books to an adults-only area.
"I don't see that as restricting any kind of access to information improperly," she said. "I see it more as a guardrail, just like we have guardrails for video, movie ratings."
Mallonee, whose mother was a librarian, joined the board in 2022 and serves on its budget committee. He said children are already protected at the county libraries.
"Our libraries are safe places for children because of the competent, skilled staff that we have," Mallonee said. "[They] know how to categorize books, how to place books in appropriate places, and observe what's going on in their libraries."
When it comes to his larger vision for the libraries, Mallonee told county commissioners that he wants to see the district keep up with how artificial intelligence is changing the way people find information as well as to continue fostering community.
"Part of the future of the library is to build community by having these spaces and having events to bring people together," Mallonee said.
For her part, Forehand told commissioners she wants the district to reach groups she sees as underserved, including people in the trades, short-term workers and young families struggling to afford the area. She described the library as a place to learn new skills at no cost, which is something she relied on growing up in a low-income family.
"I was not able to do a lot of the things that I saw my friends doing, but I was able to go to the library," Forehand said. "I could learn something that [my parents] couldn't pay for me to take a class in."
Decision-making process
At the library board meeting Nov. 5, trustees recommended Forehand and Mallonee to the county commissioners, with Mallonee recusing himself from the discussion.
Several trustees cited Forehand's finance background and her regular attendance at library board meetings. The five trustees who weighed in backed her for the Silt seat; Rippy-Sheehy, who was absent, had initially favored retired teacher Jenny Zetah but later agreed to support the board's recommendation of Forehand.
Trustees unanimously backed Mallonee for the at-large seat, citing his five years on the board and legal expertise. Trustee Brit McLin described Mallonee as "a very skillful mediator" who "keeps us on track."
McLin also praised LaRue, the library district's former executive director, calling him the most overqualified candidate, but said appointing him during new director Abraham Korah's first year would be "a hugely awkward thing" to ask of Korah. During public comments at the Nov. 5 library board meeting, LaRue recommended to the board that they reappoint Mallonee.
On Monday, the county commissioners followed both of the library board’s recommendations.
"Any board in this county that has Tela Forehand on their board is blessed," Commission Chair Tom Jankovsky said.
Jankovsky also called Mallonee "very thoughtful" and said he brings institutional knowledge and budget experience to the board.
Neither the commissioners nor the library board laid out detailed reasons and criteria for their choices, which some applicants, including LaRue and Stahl, had asked for.
During her interview, Stahl, a transgender woman, also argued that the board needs LGBTQ+ representation, because books about queer people are often the target of local and national efforts to ban books.
"Growing up, I never saw anyone like me in a book — I didn't know anyone like me could even exist, and so I spent years depressed and unhappy, not knowing what was going on or why," Stahl said. "Right now, the community with the most riding on this board's decisions has no one at the table."
Stahl's qualifications and request for LGBTQ+ representation were not discussed by either the library board or the county commissioners during their deliberations.
Last December, trustees weighed applicants against four written criteria: community involvement, being a native Spanish-speaker, business or finance expertise, and board experience. This year, Korah said in a Nov. 6 email that those criteria were shared with trustees and "each criterion came up in discussion, even though it wasn't formalized."
Jankovsky noted during the applicant interviews last week that none of the nine candidates were Latino, although Latinos make up about 30% of the county's population. LaRue, in public comment ahead of the library board meeting Nov. 5, urged trustees to recommend Zetah for the Silt position because she speaks Spanish.
"We need to have somebody who at least speaks Spanish," LaRue said.
McLin, too, recommended Zetah, but his fellow library trustee Stephanie Hirsch questioned whether having Spanish-language skills should be a central factor to consider.
"I don't know what that has to do with this job description," Hirsch said, noting that board meetings are held in English without translation.
Policies hold as pressure continues
With Monday's appointments, the commissioners have now chosen all seven library trustees since taking over the process in 2023: six new members and Mallonee's reappointment.
Many of them, including trustees Hirsch, Tony Hershey, Ed Green and Cindy Bjerstedt, said during their appointment interviews in 2024 and 2025 that they would support some restrictions on children's access to mature books, but the board has not adopted any.
The closest that the board came was in August 2025, when trustees considered a proposed library card for minors that would have blocked checkouts of books with parental-advisory labels. Hershey cast the only vote in favor of the proposal, which ultimately failed.
Trustees cited a 2024 Colorado law that requires libraries to “prohibit discrimination” when reconsidering a book and bars them from restricting books over "partisan or doctrinal disapproval." Some trustees also questioned whether children were actually at risk of accessing inappropriate books at the libraries.
The district has updated several related policies this year, although library leaders say none were a direct response to the book-restriction effort.
A revised Code of Conduct, approved by the board Nov. 5, bans “publicly viewing obscene images” on library computers and bars adults who aren’t caregivers from loitering in children and teen areas. In September, the board also adopted a policy affirming that parents are responsible for their children’s behavior and well-being at the library.
In December, trustees are expected to vote on revised collection and reconsideration policies that align with the 2024 state law, including a provision keeping challenged books on shelves until a removal request is resolved. Rippy-Sheehy, the board’s outgoing president, wrote in a Nov. 9 email that the reviews were in response to “new laws and legislation,” and not “requests from the public.”
At the Nov. 5 library board meeting, Silt resident John Lepkowski, who helped create the original book-restriction petition, again asked that graphic novels that he considers inappropriate for children be moved within a better view of the library’s front desk.
"It's been a three-and-a-half-year fight," Lepkowski said.
Despite these continued challenges, Korah said he expects new trustees to find a safe, transparent, open-minded and fiscally conservative operation at the library district, as others have before them.
Korah said last week's election affirmed that a majority of the community is supportive of the library district’s current policies and programs, including its response to book challenges in recent years.
About 67% of voters were in favor of ballot measure 6B, which extended a Garfield County Public Library District property tax that would’ve expired next year.
Korah called the result "validation that the voters have given us in terms of us being able to continue our good work."
Mallonee echoed this sentiment during his interview for reappointment.
"We asked the voters, 'Do you want to continue paying for what we've been providing?'" Mallonee said. "And they resoundingly said, 'Yes, you're doing a good job.'"
