CAIR - Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform

August 8, 2005 letter demanding Denver librarian Rick Ashton's resignation

August 8, 2005

City Librarian Rick J. Ashton
Denver Public Library
10 W. Fourteenth Ave. Pkwy.
Denver, CO 80204

Dear Mr. Ashton:

We the undersigned organizations are deeply concerned about the ruinous direction in which you have taken and are continuing to take the Denver Public Library (DPL) system. Accordingly, we are demanding your immediate resignation.

Specifically, we are outraged that:

  • According to an August 5, 2005, Rocky Mountain News article, the 12 branches of DPL contain 6,569 Spanish-language novellas. These novellas consistently contain sexually explicit pornography depicting wanton, extreme violence against women. In addition, the novellas are immediately available for viewing and checking out by children. You dishonestly described the novellas in a letter to your library commissioners as "similar to that of the Mexican soap operas that you have seen on Spanish-language television." You acknowledged on the radio last week that the novellas have been a regular part of the library collection for at least 10 years (13 years according to Diane La pierre, Library Director of Strategic Planning).
  • Without citizen input but at taxpayers' expense, a number of library branches have been converted in part from English-language materials to Spanish-language materials, occurring at a time when DPL is claiming financial hardship causing reductions in services. We have been informed by DPL employees that English-language reading materials literally have been "trashed" to accommodate the Spanish-language materials. According to an August 7, 2003, Westword article, you disbanded the efforts of the Friends volunteers who formerly were putting those books on sale and generating needed DPL revenues. On information and belief, you instead had those books thrown out-trashed!
  • You claimed that changes in DPL services, style and stock are in response to that fact that 21 percent of Denver residents speak Spanish at home. What you didn't mention is that about half of those Spanish speakers are illegal aliens. Devoting any DPL resources to illegal aliens is reprehensible.
  • Public forums to discuss changes at DPL were held from July 10 to July 21, 2005 at various DPL branches. These forums were described by you as "Community Conversations to propose potential new library service styles…and conceptual changes… in response to changing demographic needs and circulation habits of library customers." It appears that these forums were nothing but a sham attempt to gain support for changes that were already underway.
  • On August 4, 2005, you stated on-air that library staff traveled to a Guadalajara, Mexico, book fair, presumably to purchase novellas and other Spanish-language materials. What you did not fully explain is whether any public funds were inappropriately used for theses trips, including on-the-clock pay for traveling DPL employees.
  • You are a member of REFORMA an organization with a stated goal of replacing English-language books with Spanish-language books and lobbying for bilingual library systems, including bilingual librarians.*
  • In 2001, with your approval, the Mexican Consulate donated a significant number of Spanish-language books to DPL, which, on information and belief, were used to displace English-language books.
  • You are proposing a mill levy for library on the November Ballot. In light of the current mismanagement of DPL, we consider this an outrage and an insult to the citizens of Denver.

Your transparent attempt to mislead the public and your library commissioners, your squandering of public funds, your duplicitous undermining our otherwise excellent English-language library system along with your efforts to accommodate illegal aliens at taxpayers' expense demand that you immediate resign. We expect you to do so.

Michael Corbin
Coordinator, Coalition for A Closer Look (CACL)
PO Box 18724, Denver, Colorado 80218

Bob Copley, Sr.
Colorado Minuteman Project

Robert Copley, Jr.
Sovereignty Colorado

Fred Elbel
Mike McGarry
Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform

cc: Denver mayor John Hickenlooper

* Clarification, August 9, 2005:

REFORMA is an organization with a stated goal of "promoting development of Spanish-language and Latino/Hispanic oriented library collections". In these times of budgetary constraints, this effectively means replacing English-language books with Spanish-language books. The results of this effort can already be seen at a number of Denver Public Library branches.