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http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/lo...988310,00.html

Protesters cite porn on shelves

'Fotonovelas' drive crowd to demand that librarian resign

By Fernando Quintero, Rocky Mountain News
August 9, 2005

Protesters demanded the resignation of Denver city librarian Rick Ashton at a noon rally Monday after their recent discovery of what they call "pornographic" Spanish-language fotonovelas on library bookshelves.

Representatives from a number of Colorado groups "concerned about illegal immigration issues," led by local radio commentator Michael Corbin, met outside the Central Library to hand-deliver their letter to Ashton, who is out of town on vacation.

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The comic book-like fotonovelas, which are popular in Mexico and other Latin American countries, have nudity and sexually explicit scenes depicted in some of the books.

"It's outrageous that we've got the library, of all places, peddling porn," said Corbin. "This demonstrates an extreme lack of judgment and leadership on Mr. Ashton's behalf."

Denver library spokeswoman Celeste Jackson said all the fotonovelas have been pulled from the shelves and are under review by library staff.

Protesters voiced several other concerns, including their opposition to the library's proposal to increase its Spanish-language collections and services at specific branches to better meet the city's demographic shifts. Proponents of official English criticized the use of Spanish in libraries and all other public institutions.

Robert Copley, who represented the Colorado Minutemen, a group of volunteers who monitor illegal border crossings, called for Mayor John Hickenlooper to rescind what Copley and others claim is a policy of sanctuary that coddles illegal immigrants.

"Our city's sanctuary policy acts as nothing but a magnet, pulling people from across the border. You hear they come to work hard. They also come to kill, destroy our work opportunities, and demean our quality of life. We're not going to let that happen," he said.

An equal number of library supporters carried signs that read "Censorship is un-American" and "Multilingualism makes us smarter."

"I do not like that these people are using the pornography issue to move forward its immigrant-bashing agenda and racist beliefs," said Corey Sampson, a Denver resident who represented the group Colorado for Immigrant Rights.

Jackson said a search for "fotonovelas" in the library's catalog turned up 6,500 titles.

"Not all are sexually explicit. Not all have been circulated," she said. "It appears something slipped through the cracks. When they arrive, nobody looks through each of them.

"This may become part of our process now."