COSPL Statement on Harmful Language in the Collection

What is the Colorado State Publications Library (COSPL)?

COSPL was established by the General Assembly in 1980 as a part of the Colorado State Library in the Colorado Department of Education. The mission of the library is to provide Colorado residents with free permanent public access to information produced by state government. Publications that are "born digital" are archived in COSPL's digital repository and are freely available online.

What are state publications?

State publications are valuable sources of information published in print and electronic formats by state agencies. They cover a wide variety of topics including health, business, education, crime, agriculture, mining, employment, taxes, water quality, wildlife, and the environment.

The State Publications Library obtains publications from:

• State Agencies
• The General Assembly
• The Governor's Office
• The Supreme Court
• Boards and Commissions
• State Colleges and Universities

Why is there harmful language in state publications?

COSPL’s collection spans Colorado’s history and we are dedicated to preserving and making these historical records accessible to the public. As a result, some of the materials in our library may reflect outdated, biased, offensive, and possibly violent views and opinions. Our collections also contain documents with information about violent events that are preserved for their historical significance.

Within COSPL’s catalog, blog, and other web content, it is possible that users may encounter language that is racist, sexist, homophobic, or otherwise harmful. This language often originates from the people and organizations that created the material. Our standard practice is to catalog these materials using the exact language on the document because it provides important context about the creation of the materials.

What are we doing about it?

While COSPL is legally obligated to provide access to all state government documents, we do not condone harmful and offensive viewpoints that may be found in the collection. We are committed to providing context to historical government documents in our educational materials, including the COSPL blog, research guides, presentations, and other online resources, in order to balance the dominant, establishment viewpoints present in these documents. We believe that providing access to Colorado’s broad historical record is important for teaching, learning, research, and social change.

COSPL is currently undertaking the following actions to provide context and balance to harmful language in our collection:

• Informing users about the presence and origin of harmful content.
• Prioritizing the digitization of state documents by or about marginalized groups in order to increase public access to this information.
• Evaluating existing COSPL policies for exclusionary practices and institutional biases that prioritize one culture and/or group over another.

Help us address harmful language

We recognize that the work to address harmful language in our collection is ongoing as the best practices for respectful and inclusive terminology continue to evolve, and welcome feedback about the ways that we present state government material. Please use the linked form to anonymously alert us to any offensive or harmful language found in our collection or online resources. If you have any questions or would like to provide other types of feedback, please email us at spl@cde.state.co.us.