The Denver Public Library acted appropriately in canceling its subscriptions to four series of Spanish-language fotonovelas featuring sexually explicit illustrations of violence against women.
Fotonovelas are comic-like publications that commonly use storylines from big- name authors, movies and soap operas. Given Denver’s 35 percent Hispanic population, it’s totally proper for the library to reach out to this growing audience with such publications and other materials in Spanish. Indeed, any library worth its salt should have a selection of books in modern formats and languages other than English – not only for immigrants and visitors but also for students learning the foreign tongues. But comic books that feature lewd images and glorify rape and murder are inappropriate for a public library – in any language.
For some, the issue is muddied because the controversy over the objectionable fotonovelas was ignited by ideological bedfellows of Rep. Tom Tancredo, the outspoken foe of illegal immigration who got into a snit over library plans to increase Spanish-language services.
The anti-immigration aspects of this episode are not our concern, nor should it be a factor for DPL. Would an illustrated series using the same graphic images but with text in English be canceled? Yes, assured Beth Elder, DPL director of public services.
It’s troubling, though, that the series were canceled only after a complaint was filed and the entire collection of 6,500 fotonovelas was pulled for review.
Elder says that absent a formal complaint, materials generally aren’t inspected before going on the shelf. “We’re not able to review or read every item,” said Elder. “I think we do a pretty good job.”
We can’t share such complacency. Procedures for keeping inappropriate material off the shelves should be improvedThe library is reviewing its processes and procedures, Elder said, but “we still want to be sure we offer a broad and diverse collection to a very, very diverse community.”
We couldn’t agree more. But a public library needs to do more than send out a book order and a check. Material should get a once-over upon arrival, and community standards on content should prevail. One look at the cover of some of the inappropriate fotonovelas would have done the trick.
