In Colorado Court of Appeals briefs filed Monday, the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition and the editor of the Crested Butte News spell out reasons why a judge erred in ruling that a Colorado statute shields the identities of people who want certain books reclassified or removed altogether from library shelves.

Someone who fills out a form seeking to ban books they view as objectionable or controversial is not a “user” of public library services under C.R.S. § 24-90-119, which was enacted by the state legislature in 1983 to protect the privacy of library patrons, the briefs argue.

“Nothing in the legislative history suggests that the sponsors and supporters of the bill believed that a library ‘user’ would include those who request the removal of library books and other materials,” wrote Rachael Johnson, a Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press attorney who is representing Crested Butte News editor Mark Reaman. “And the bill’s purpose belies any such interpretation.”

CFOIC’s friend-of-the-court brief, prepared by organization president Steve Zansberg, says “a proper, narrow construction” of the library privacy law does not extend to a written form submitted by a member of the public “asking library officials to prevent actual library users from accessing books or other information in the library’s collection.”