As Nicolle Davies sat at the Denver Public Library Central’s branch, she’s surrounded by more multimedia — like a giant chess board, classic records, even video games — than she is books.
Denver’s new city librarian finds as much value in those mediums as there is in the written word.
“I'm not cutting edge or bleeding edge,” she told Colorado Matters.
And while she herself doesn’t pick up a controller, “I've got some gamers in my household. I just think it teaches a lot of life skills that people don't really give gaming credit for.”
Davies sat down with us and Colorado Matters senior host Ryan Warner just over a month into her new job to discuss literacy among Denverites, how her department will navigate the city’s budget crunch and the role of libraries in democracy.
The library system avoided layoffs, but it will still have to manage a major hiring freeze.
Amid a $250 million budget deficit, the city laid off 171 workers as it attempted to balance its general fund.
While the library was spared from the layoffs, it is still subject to the citywide hiring freeze on all vacant positions.
For the library, that means 99 open positions will go unfilled. Four planned library branch closures will reassign some workers to short-staffed branches.
For many library staffers, the freeze has them nervous about a potential increase in workload. But Davies said she’s not concerned that it will cause more burnout than usual.
“I think I worry about burnout for anybody who is public-facing right now,” Davies said. “I worry a little bit about our civility towards one another, quite frankly. And I don't know that people are always kind or showing up in the best way.”
Davies said the hiring freeze and the branch closures will cause an “impact for patrons,” but it is committed to fulfilling all its responsibilities — even the increased share of social service work it's been asked to do.
“We've always tried to support patrons no matter what that looked like. We've been, I think, a very agile profession for a very long time,” she said. “While not ideal, I mean, you would love to have all of the important social services funded appropriately, the reality is we still have patrons coming, whether those services are happening or not.”
Davies: ‘I support our staff’s right to unionize.’
Denver’s library staff is expected to undergo the first union election in Denver in decades, taking advantage of a voter-approved expansion of collective bargaining rights.
Davies didn’t have much to say on the staff’s union drive, noting that she’s recently taken the job and is still getting acquainted with the system. However, she did signal her support for the unionization process.
“When I stepped into this role, I was aware of the new opportunities given to city workers to unionize. I support our staff's right to unionize and I respect the city's process,” she said.
'There is space for everyone and all content.'
Before Davies’ predecessor, Michelle Jeske, left the office after a decade-long tenure, Jeske described public libraries as the “cornerstone of democracy” and maintained their role as a censorship-free space.
“We have something at the library that will offend you, and there's something here that will offend me, and I think that's really important,” Jeske told Denverite.
Davies agreed with her predecessor. When asked about the library’s inventory of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” — which outlines his genocidal philosophy that led to the Holocaust — Davies stuck to her belief that libraries can’t dictate what readers have access to.
“It comes down to choice. It comes down to choice for you, it comes down to choice for your family, and we should provide opportunities and offerings for everyone,” she said.
That’s not to say DPL plans to build up a collection of obscure bigoted literature for the sake of accessibility. In her previous role as Colorado’s state librarian, Davies said library systems have important collection development policies, including those of DPL.
“These are individuals with masters in library science who have studied, who know how to put together a collection that's reflective of a community that they serve,” she said.
Those policies will also help the library combat any attempts at book bans — which are at an all-time high nationwide.
How can the library help improve literacy in Denver?
Literacy is more than just being able to read words on a page. Davies said digital literacy and media literacy are important issues the world is grappling with.
“As life has changed … There's navigation you have to understand how to use,” she said. “You've got a cell phone, you've got an iPad, you've all these different devices, and this highly educated doctor doesn't know how to use this technology.”
While she isn’t sure if it's the library’s direct responsibility to help educate the masses on that, Davies did say she believes that the library’s role is to provide access. The library has video game consoles, computers and other digital devices to help people learn how to use modern technology.
Because media literacy is increasingly taught in schools, she said it’s the library’s job to supplement those lessons with accessible resources.
What about the kids?
Those video game consoles, as well as a record player with albums, are in the Central branch’s teen section, which is closed to adults. (Ed. note: Unless you’re two journalists and a city librarian looking for a good place to record an interview.)
“I don't remember a space like this when I was growing up,” Davies said.
The space was designed for teenagers, and Davies said she hopes the resources there can make adolescence easier in a time when it’s harder than ever.
Next to the record player — where teens can play modern-day hits from Beyoncé and Olivia Rodrigo, or explore classics like Green Day’s “Dookie” or a compilation of Diana Ross’ best hits — there’s also a “Poet-Tree,” where teens are invited to write poems on leaf-shaped paper and attach them to the paper-mache tree.
“I should tell the people that my body is beautiful,” one poem read.
“I hope that was written by a teen and I hope he or she feels that way,” Davies said after reading it.
Davies said that while it’s hard to be a teenager right now, she’s also inspired by their resilience.
“When I look at this generation, all they're dealing with, they're so impressive and they're so much good there to work with,” she said.
CPR's Ryan Warner contributed to this story.
