Statement March 2021

Our community enjoys rich cultural diversity. Pueblo is a vibrant mix of people who hail from an extensive breadth of backgrounds and beliefs.  The Pueblo City-County Library values this in celebrating equity, diversity, and inclusion.  Certain recent events in our nation point to some of the struggles we face with this.  In particular, the mass shootings of the past week in Boulder and Atlanta come to mind. 
 
We are in the midst of a turbulent and difficult time for all of us. The COVID-19 pandemic is among the worst modern human disasters.  It has threatened our well-beingand exacerbated economic and social catastrophe. Now, the Atlanta and Boulder shootings and related events remind us of the terrible problems of bigotry and gun violence.  Recent hate crimes in the United States targeting people of Asian and Pacific Island descent are hard.  These weigh heavily. 
We are reminded here by Lao Tzu that brutality is never the proper path:
 
For every force, there is a counter force.
Violence, even well intentioned,
Always rebounds upon oneself.
-Tao Te Ching (~Sixth Century BC)
 
The Pueblo City-County Library strives to resolve these challenges.  The mission of the public library is importantas much now as ever before. We embrace our diversity, we are inclusive, and we start from a place of equity. We welcome everyone with support for lifelong learning, literacy, and information and understanding. Our professional culture seeks to sustain an environment conducive to safe, productive, and respectful dialog and engagement. These public library principles are critical pieces in the struggle against hate and violence.
 
We wish you peace, health, and prosperity,
 
Fredrick Quintana
President, Board of Trustees
 
Jon Walker
Executive Director