Denver plan for Spanish libraries hammered - Proposal calls for 7 branches to make non-English material dominant - Articles - CAIR

A plan by the city of Denver's library system to make some branches specifically cater to Spanish-language speakers has some residents and English-only advocates seeing red.

The plan, called "Languages and Learning," would dramatically increase the amount of Spanish resources in seven branches to serve Denver's burgeoning Latino immigrant community.

The proposal has been roundly criticized by those who oppose public services to illegal aliens and support making English the nation's official language.

Mauro E. Mujica is chairman of the board of U.S. English, Inc.

"Denver's action is a dubious first in American history: A major U.S. city is creating a public institution that intentionally excludes native-born Americans," said Mujica in a statement. "This action goes against the model of assimilation that has successfully served the United States for centuries.

"In a nation of immigrants, focusing on a single non-English language is the type of favoritism that we should have abandoned years ago. The taxpayers of Denver – residents who speak 68 languages – should not stand idly by while their money goes to support immigrants from El Salvador or Colombia over immigrants from Vietnam or Egypt."...

"This is America. Our language is English. It's important that our public institutions adhere to a single language," Fred Elbel, a Lakewood resident and president of Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform, told the Rocky Mountain News....