http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_2967692



Fotonovela subscriptions ended
The Denver library is canceling four series of the explicit books, an act some decry as discrimination.
By Karen E. Crummy
Denver Post Staff Writer
DenverPost.com

The Denver Public Library has canceled its subscription to four series of Spanish-language fotonovelas, but library officials said they won't be reviewing similar publications in other languages unless someone files a complaint.

"We have millions of items in our collection, and our job is to strike a balance and serve a diverse community," library spokeswoman Diane Schieman- Christman said Tuesday. "We aren't going to do any reviews unless there is a request for reconsideration."

The library removed the fotonovelas - comic-book-style publications - in response to complaints from illegal-immigration opponents that they contained sexually explicit illustrations.

Similar English-language books have also been found, but no complaints have been made against those publications, Schieman-Christman said.

Ten remaining series of fotonovelas will continue to be available at the library. But some questioned whether the library was engaging in unfair censorship.

"That does make it look as if they are discriminating against the Spanish-language part, not the content," said Estevan Flores, executive director of the Latino/a Research & Policy Center. "As long as they are in the adult section, I don't know what the problem is."

Others said the library - which has been under attack by Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo and the Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform (CAIR) for serving the Spanish- speaking population - was pushed into a corner.

"Agencies like the library are being attacked, and they have no choice but to retreat," said Lisa Duran, director of the immigration group Rights for All People.

Although CAIR appeared to have achieved a victory with the books' removal, the group was far from declaring peace with library officials.

"We don't go by what they say; we go by what we see. We will pass judgment on whether those books are gone," said CAIR spokesman Mike McGarry, noting that fotonovelas still remain on the shelves.

CAIR had demanded that city librarian Rick Ashton resign, pointing to the growing Spanish-language content in Denver libraries as an example of accommodating illegal immigrants at taxpayer expense.

Immigration-rights advocates say the issue has nothing to do with fotonovelas.

Illegal-immigration opponents "are using a bait-and- switch tactic of ideology to not welcome those they perceive different than white America," said Danielle Short of the Colorado American Friends Service Committee.

Ashton ordered the removal of 6,569 fotonovelas from all libraries earlier this month, pending a review of the content of each book.

Some of the books contain depictions of women chased by weapon-toting men, tell stories about Ernest Hemingway, and have illustrated stories written by Jack London and Edgar Allan Poe.

The canceled series are "El Libro Vaquero" ("Cowboy Book"), "Frontera Violenta" ("Violent Frontier"), "La Novela Policiaca" ("Police Novel") and "El Libro Policiaco" ("Police Book").

Although the library found that the visual nature and placement of the items in the adult section were within guidelines of the Collection Development Policy, the four series had consistently explicit content, Schieman- Christman said.

Library commission president K.C. Veio is having a task force review the libraries' collection policies and procedures starting in September. But Schieman- Christman said library policy dictates that specific titles be reviewed only after formal requests.

The fotonovelas have been part of the library collection for 15 years.