Colorado: “Former Weld County Librarian Wins Settlement After District Fired Her For Promoting LGBTQ, Anti-Racism Programs”
A former librarian will receive $250,000 from the High Plains Library District as part of a settlement in a lengthy civil rights dispute over her firing.
Brooky Parks lost her job at Erie Community Library in 2021 after promoting anti-racism and LGBTQ history workshops for teens. The programming drew backlash from the district’s board of trustees, which oversees more than a dozen public libraries across Northern Colorado.
Members of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission signed off on the financial agreement on Friday, making it official. It also drops discrimination charges against the district and includes requirements that district leaders update their programming policies to be more inclusive.
“I feel validated and really vindicated,” Parks said. “I think this sends a message to all libraries that there’s consequences for retaliation against people and that libraries are meant to serve all members of the community.”
Learn More, Read the Complete Report (about 950 words)
See Also: Colorado Librarian Wins Settlement, Our Admiration (Newspaper Editorial) (via The Durango Herald)
Filed under: Libraries, News, Public Libraries
About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
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