FORWARD

up with grand visions about where we want to go, but we don’t come up with the little ladder rungs that it takes to get there.” inde nite period of time after testing for the substance by EnviroSpec. e announcement from the Jefferson County Public Library came on Jan. 28. e library is the fourth in the metro area to close due to meth contamination. Boulder, Littleton and Englewood libraries closed in recent weeks after simialar testing. e decision to test the Arvada Library followed a review of incident reports across Je erson County libraries. Further testing is expected

Amy Travin, the founder of local grassroots organization Arvadans for Social Justice said that while she was happy the city was moving forward with a new DEI consultant, she hopes that history — both recent and from long ago — not be forgotten.

“I’m hesitant that while reviewing the data, the history of both long ago and more recent Arvada is going to be lost,” Travin said. “There is a history of Arvada before any of us were here and before our grandparents and great-grandparents were here.” to bring any public health concerns into sharper focus.

She went on to stress that there is a history that cannot be ignored when working with and in Arvada.

“There are Native Americans in our own community living and breathing right now that have voices to be listened to for this work,” she said.

JCPL said that recent studies indicate that exposure to meth residue poses little health risk compared to long-term exposure to meth residue in one’s home or workplace — an assertion backed by experts recently interviewed by Colorado Community Media.

“ is is an ongoing situation and if there is information that would lead us to believe that there is an unreasonable risk to the health of sta or patrons, testing at other locations would be plausible,” JCPL said in a statement.

Travin urged the consultant not miss to not miss out on those particular voices when engaging with the community and also pointed out that more recent history, such as when the first consultant, We the People, was hired, should be just important as the history from long ago.

“ urge the consultants to ask around everyone here what they remember and also urge the consultants to watch that meeting from a year ago to gauge for themselves how open the city is to this work and what may be required to move forward in it,” she said.

Of the metro area libraries that have closed due to meth contamination, only the Boulder library has partially reopened since its initial shutdown.

JCPL said it will consult with its partners to determine when the library can reopen again. Another branch of JCPL remains open in west Arvada, the Express Library West Arvada.