letter to the library

Dear Denver Public Library Collective,

Thank you for not being extremely week-ass motherfuckers like the Kansas Library Association, which refuses to stock music by artists such as OutKast, Rage Against the Machine, Lou Reed, Devo, and others. Apparently, music by these artists is considered objectionable, controversial, and unacceptable.

OutKast and other hip-hop/rap artists help define a key subculture in today's society. People who question the purpose of popular music in a public library, do not perceive subcultures and countercultures as relevant to our civilization. However, this type of music preserved through public libraries will one day be a priceless porthole to western culture circa 2000 A.D.

Rage Against the Machine, while also of interest from future historical viewpoints, is immediately pertinent to today's governmental policies and political motivation, much like Bob Dylan's 1960's protest songs were pertinent in that decade.

I know less of Lou Reed and Devo, but from my limited experience I cannot fathom why these two artists would ever be banned. I guess Lou Reed has a catchy song about a transvestite and Devo's Whip It may be misconstrued as some freakish incestual-sadomasochistic anthem. If, for now (and I say "for now" because the increasingly restrictive F.C.C. may eventually ban all songs and all words), these songs and artists can be transmitted over federally regulated radio, then they should be fit for public libraries.

On an aside, I recently checked out a couple of Black Eyed Peas albums and I would like to express my deepest gratitude for stocking the pure albums, explicit lyrics and all. Keep up the good work and don't cave to any the convenience of "edited" alternatives that might placate those who pressure you to censor.

Thank you, DPL, for not censoring Denver's catalog… to an extreme degree, anyway. I assume that you must, to a certain extent, censor the material on the shelves in order to survive as a tax-funded institution in this overly polarized and political society. Your acceptable/objectionable policies appear reasonable from a realistic and practical perspective. I'm sure you'll always offend extremist who prefer to see mild books like 1984 and The Lorax banned from the shelves. And, I'm sure you'll never truly satisfy people, like me, on the other end of the spectrum who believe that even kiddy porn and suicide notes should be preserved as cultural and societal insights.

It's funny how things change. It wasn't long ago that I was privately boycotting the Denver Public Library. See, in 2002 I bought a house, but it almost didn't happen. When the mortgage lenders pulled my credit history I had a collection flag on my credit report courtesy of DPL for a whopping $40.00. I was a bit pissed that this menial dick drip of a fine warped my otherwise unmarred credit. C'mon, it was only $40.00. Sure, the collection flag was my fault; I didn't return the books on time, but I still harbored resentment. As with all things in life, the passage of time has lessened my perceived injustice. That, and I've always sucked at holding grudges.

I'm back to frequenting your facilities thanks to the convenience of www.denver.lib.co.us, which a coworker pointed out to me, and thanks to the large selection of television programming on DVD, which my own mother swears by, and thanks to your sizeable catalog of compact discs, which I stumbled upon on my own. The first season of The A-Team and the first season of Xena have introduced me to a totally new and streamlined way to relive my youth and entertain myself. By perusing the DPL website I have stumbled across many other CDs and DVDs that I plan on checking out. Who knows, maybe someday I'll eventually checkout something worthwhile, something non-CD and non-DVD, something like Machiavelli's The Prince or Powell's The Anarchist Cookbook.

I hope, as an established institution that prides itself in its vast catalog of thought-provoking and mind-expanding material, that you do not resent the role of Blockbuster Video to cheapskate assholes such as myself. The Denver Public Library is allowing me to revisit the popular culture of my youth while expanding my contemporary musical interests… all of this for free! I can't beat that with a frozen turd and snare drum.

So, thank you for the practical censorship policies. Thank you for providing me entertainment. Thank you for an almost free service (though not totally free since, whether I like it or not, I support these services through the outrageous taxes I fork out… your welcome). Thank you for everything.

Sincerely,



Stephen Henry

lib. card#: d*******
email: chompipeciego@aol.com
ph# ***.***.****
**** Mariposa St.
Denver CO, 802**
...and so it was written, shenry at 8/31/2004 07:04:00 AM.
...and so it was appended with .