Discussions surrounding the restriction of certain books within Garfield County Libraries has been the forefront of conversation for the past two years.

Newly appointed Glenwood Springs representative for the Garfield County Libraries Board of Trustees Tony Hershey said he is excited to roll up his sleeves and find the underlying basis of the discord. From his point of view, there are reliable foundations for both arguments. 

“I think adult books should be with adults,” he said. “I just think there’s this whole mass of people that sit in the middle ground. They want a good library but don’t want children to have access to inappropriate content.”

Hershey is the most recent appointment, but is not alone. Garfield County commissioners appointed new trustees late last year for New Castle and Carbondale. Former chief of Burning Mountains Fire Protection District Brit McLin will serve as the New Castle representative until Dec. 31, 2025. Pierucci Publishing founder Stephanie Pierucci Hirsch was appointed by the county commissioners to a full five-year term to represent Carbondale. 

They’ll be the newest members faced with a yearslong debate surrounding some of the materials available for rent at Garfield County libraries. Since 2022, Garfield County residents Trish O’Grady and John Lepkowski, have advocated restricting content within the libraries that they alleged to be unfit for children. 

The discussions center around manga, a Japanese animation style that has roots dating back to the12th century. Since September 2023, members of the community have brought concerns forward to the district library board regarding the books being unsafe for children. 

The Japanese comic books have long been a part of Japanese culture, and sometimes portray dark or sexual scenes. The contention has expanded to other graphic novels that are offered within the public library system, although none which are currently kept in the children’s books section of the libraries. 

Their argument lies on the fact that the books are available and advertised to children. They advised the board to move the books to higher shelves, put them behind protective glass, or even burn them all together.

“We shouldn’t have said that,” Lepkowski said. “We don’t want to ban any books, we just want them protected so children can’t access inappropriate content.”

Hershey hopes his appointment can bring fresh air into the conversation.

“Nobody gets exactly what they want in politics,” he said. “We aren’t going to burn down the libraries, and we aren’t going to install triple X sections. There has to be a middle ground for both parties. I’m excited to get into the weeds and work with the rest of the board to find a solution. My first meeting is April 3 and I’m going to keep my mouth shut and learn about the issues.”

Lepkowski, a Silt resident, first saw the books at the Parachute Library almost three years ago. He said the books were located on lower shelves, and equated the books to poison or a loaded handgun. 

“If you had small children, you wouldn’t leave poison or a loaded handgun out where they could access them,” he said. ” (My pastor) said these books are grooming little children, and this sort of content can be as addictive as drugs. We are grooming little children with homosexual and pornographic material.”

Executive Director of Garfield County Library’s and 1998 librarian of the year Jamie LaRue said the specific books are neither accessible nor advertised to children, and in some cases, the books even have a 18+ sticker on them. 

“They have always been segregated and as far away from the children’s area as it is possible within that space,” LaRue said. 

He continued to say the discussions aren’t sprouting from an understanding of the content or even a mass community effort.

“The part that I have found frustrating about John’s attacks is that he doesn’t read these books,” he said. “He just flips to them to find an image that he feels is too sexual in content for a child, but there’s no evidence that a child is using them. This is a group of about five people and it’s nothing like a groundswell of community support.”

According to Lepkowski, there is a lot more community interest than LaRue is letting on. 

“All the credit has to go to Trish O’Grady,” Lepkowski said. “I kicked a small snowball down the hill and she turned it into an avalanche. She got over 1,200 signatures on our petition. The next library board meeting is going to be packed, you better get there early if you want to sit down.”

After O’Grady and Lepkowski brought their concerns to the library board, each representative from the six branches in the Garfield County Library Board of Trustees read the concerned books and decided they fit their standards. 

Hershey said he and LaRue may disagree on foundational library values. 

“I think Jamie and I may disagree with each other on this subject, but just because someone wants a book doesn’t mean the city has to buy that book for them,” he said. 

LaRue has a broader view of the issues. 

“This is not about books in the library. This is about an attempt to politicize a public institution that’s supposed to serve everybody and make it serve just one part of the community,” he said. 

Those advocating for restricting access to library materials so far have failed to answer what LaRue sees as a much bigger question: What do you do about explicit content and bad actors looking to target children via the internet?

“Nowadays, we have the internet,” he said. “Far more explicit content is more readily available today, that is just a fact, that is reasonable. What isn’t reasonable is trying to hold the libraries accountable for the way society has changed.”

Hershey agreed with LaRue’s sentiment, almost reiterating his words verbatim, but can understand where Lepkowski is coming from. 

“People have a lot easier access to the same materials on the internet or their cell phones than they might at the libraries,” he said. “If you’re an adult and really need to find something that the library doesn’t provide, I don’t think it’s incumbent for the library to provide such materials because we have limited resources.”

The next library board meeting is slated for 2 p.m. April 3 at the Glenwood Springs Library Branch.