Denver Public Library pulling Spanish comic books off shelves

DENVER – Library workers are pulling thousands of Spanish-language comic books from the shelves following complaints of pornographic and violent content while officials decide if some books should be permanently removed.

About 6,500 “fotonovelas,” popular in Mexico and other Latin American countries, have been temporarily recalled from Denver Public Library branches, library spokeswoman Celeste Jackson said on Thursday. The review could be completed by next week.

“Anybody for any reason can come in and say, ‘Is this right for the Denver Public Library collection?’ and we’ll take a look at it,” she said.

Fotonovelas are usually short books written as part of a sequence, like a television miniseries.The Denver library system, which includes a large Spanish-speaking population, has been offering the fotonovelas for about 15 years but started receiving complaints last week after a radio host said some contained “shocking” illustrations.