SUMMARY:  

In February 2024, the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) in Garfield County passed Resolution 24-12, hijacking the Garfield County Library Districts’ trustee selection process. By signing this petition you are indicating your support for rescinding Resolution 24-12. 

BACKGROUND:

In 2023, a nation-wide attack against libraries reached Garfield County. A small, vocal group began pushing our Library District's Board of Trustees to restrict access to certain books. Like all forms of book banning, restricting access to books goes against the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights and our Library District’s mission of ensuring access to information.

The Garfield County Commissioners have made statements sympathetic to this vocal minority and in favor of banning books. In February 2024, the BOCC passed Resolution 24-12 to take control over the library trustee selection process. Through this resolution, the commissioners gave themselves the power to select library trustees whose views align with their political ideology and censorship.

Protect Our GarCo Libraries, a group of concerned community members, is working to maintain the integrity of our libraries and prevent book banning. Resolution 24-12 poses a clear threat to these goals, so we are urging the BOCC to rescind that resolution.

By signing this petition you are indicating your support for rescinding Resolution 24-12. Rescinding this resolution would restore the process that governed library trustee selection in our county from 2008 - 2023. The library board would once again be able to conduct interviews of applicants and recommend their choice to the BOCC for procedural approval.

The freedom to access information is at stake. The First Amendment is at stake. Please sign this petition in support of our local libraries.

More info on our website: https://www.protectgarcolibraries.org/

Note that after signing this petition the non-profit Change.org will email you with an appeal to donate to the app.  This request is not an appeal from Protect Our Garco Libraries or the Garfield County Library Board of Trustees.

Thank you.