A proclamation honoring Shirley Amore for her service to the Denver Public Library. A proclamation honoring Shirley Amore for her service to the Denver Public Library.
Thank you, Madam President. Proclamation 15 006 for honoring Shirley Amore for her service to the Denver Public Library. Whereas Denver City Council wishes to recognize our colleague Shirley Amour, who has provided exceptional guidance and vision as city librarian for more than eight years and is now retiring. And. Whereas, Shirley accomplished a great deal during her tenure, including delivering a successful campaign in 2007 when voters said yes to $52 million for library capital improvements as part of a better Denver bond program. And. WHEREAS, with Shirley's successful advocacy, voters approved ballot measures to age in 2012, ensuring additional funds for every branch to be open a minimum of six days per week. And. WHEREAS, The Denver Public Library enjoy many highlights under Shirley's leadership, including opening the Green Valley Ranch Branch Library, the Sam Gary Branch Library, and the Rodolfo Corky Gonzalez Branch Library. And. Whereas, with unwavering commitment to bringing excellent library services to the community, Shirley Amari has earned respect and affection of the Denver Citizens Library staff and city officials. Whereas Shirley has been a high, tireless advocate for the purpose of libraries in our communities. She has thought outside the box to provide all residents, including homeless people, opportunities to utilize library services for personal growth and connection to the technology services. And. Whereas, it has been the privilege of City Council to work side by side with Schuller, Shirley and more. And we thank her for her dedication, talents and heart, which she has served this great city. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Council of the City and County of Denver, Section one, that the Denver City Council, since their birthday, wishes to Shirley as she celebrates her special day on Monday, February 16th, and to honor both her birthday indeed, and the occasion of her retirement. The council declares Tuesday, February 17th, as Shirley Amore Day Section two, that the Denver City Council hereby honors Shirley Amoore for her distinguished service to the Denver Public Library and the citizens of Denver and wishes her well upon her retirement. Section three that the clerk of the city and county of Denver shall test and affix the seal of the city and county of Denver to this proclamation and that a copy be transmitted to Shirley more. Thank you. Councilwoman Lehman, your motion to adopt. Thank you. Madam President, I move that we adopt proclamation 15 Dash 006 for second. It has been moved and seconded comments by members of council. Councilman Lehman. Thank you. It has been an honor to read this resolution. Surely you have been in the city library and since the summer of 2006 you are our first female city librarian and the ninth to hold this office. You have guided the library through fast moving changes in technology. You directed the building and the staffing of three new library branches, which provided library services to underserved areas of Denver. And you created an important community resources throughout the city. Leadership is everything. Surely. Thank you for being an outstanding leader for. We're not finished yet. Councilwoman Ortega, we're just getting. Started. Right. Thank you, Madam President. First of all, I'd like to ask that my name be added to the proclamation. I can remember coming back to council and having discussions about the hours being reduced in all of our libraries. There was discussion about whether or not we should be whether or not the library system should be sort of a separate entity apart from the city similar to an authority. And we were just struggling with how to deliver the same quality of services to the citizens and the taxpayers. With with the challenge, the financial challenges that we had. And over time, as you can see, we've actually added three libraries to our system, ensuring that people in all of our neighborhoods have access to all of the great materials that you and your staff routinely update and ensure that people have access to, including movies. I have a good friend who goes to the library just to check out movies all the time. So I want to I want to say thank you for your eight years of service to the city of Denver and for your work and dedication. I know you have an excellent team of people at the Denver Library system. We've we're going to be opening the last of the three of the end of this month on the 28th. And I know lots of people are looking forward to that one as well. But it's your leadership that helped guide us through this process. And I just want to say thank you for all of your work and your dedication to the city and the citizens of Denver. Thank you, Councilwoman Ortega. Councilman Brooks. Thank you, Madam President. Cheri. This is a hard day for me and seeing you seeing you go in. And one of the reasons is, is I just feel like you get it. As a librarian, you understand it's not just about books. It's about the community. And I remember we when we first met you talking about you see the libraries as community centers. And I was like, oh, my goodness, this librarian gets it. Because it's not just a place where people go to read books, but it's a workforce center. It's not just a people. A place where people go to read books. It's where young folks who don't, who come from single family homes, aren't exposed to some of the programs to read. So they're there. It's a place where we have homeless services, especially around Blair Caldwell, which is in five points. And so I, I just appreciate your work and I appreciate your your boldness in even putting social workers at the at the libraries. And so I pray that this vision will continue to go on to the next person, because we have a lot of work to do in our urban libraries. And so thank you so much for your service. Thank you so much for understanding the city and seeing the city. And best of luck in retirement. And you can come back anytime. Just let you know. Thank you, Councilman. Councilwoman Sheppard. Thank you, Madam President. Surely I said this during mayor council, but I have worked with you most closely in your project manager role, and there have been no shortage of unplanned twists and turns involved in getting the the Rodolfo Corky Gonzalez library ready to open its doors. And, you know, you and I and several others have had, you know, our share of angst and nail biting, wondering, you know, when and if and how it was finally going to come together. But I am so pleased to be able to announce to everybody this evening, as Councilman Ortega alluded to a moment ago, that we will be celebrating the grand opening of this new state of the art library to serve both well, all of Denver, but specifically the West and North Denver communities. And I couldn't be more excited. And I think, if I'm not mistaken, your actually your last day of work is the day before the opening. So I just want to let folks know that we will have a grand celebration on Saturday, February 28th, at the new Corky Gonzales Library, which is at West Colfax in Irving. If you did not know, the doors will open at nine and in 11:00 we will have a program and general merriment and celebration. So I couldn't be more excited. And thank you for your steadfast persistence and dedication to seeing that project through. I very much appreciate it, as do everyone who will avail themselves of that opportunity once the doors open. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Shepard. Councilwoman Sussman. Thank you, Mr. President. You don't often think of librarians as superpowers. But then I met Shirley Mra, who was of is a force to be dealt with. You were a hurricane of action and persuasion on the bond issue. And I was so impressed and so happy that we had you as our librarian. The librarian with superpowers. I don't think you'll probably be retired for too long. And certainly, as Councilman Brooke says, you can come back anytime. Thanks for your service. It was it was just wonderful. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman Sussman. Councilman Lopez. Thank you. Madam President, I wanted to just thank you, surely publicly for your work in making sure that libraries are still a thing of the present, not a thing of the past. You wouldn't believe how many times we heard people say, Why do we even have libraries anymore? When you have the Internet and I'll tell you why. Because they are. They're centers of knowledge, centers of opportunity. Our libraries nowadays are not just books that are getting dusty on a shelf. What happened to being able to do good research and teaching our young people not to just rely on what they see on Wikipedia or on Facebook as fact, but to go look for it themselves. And that's what that teaches, that that's what it's all about. I'm a generation Xer. I don't know about anybody after me. No offense, Elvis. But in the same generation. Hey, you claim to be young. I'm just picking on you. Even now that you're young, you know, three months younger than me. So it's such an invaluable it's such a valuable lesson, right, to to look for that information. It is the center of knowledge. Folks going to the library to seek refuge, to find work, to find peace. In some cases, there are only community centers and communities where we don't have any. A library is a community center and it's a place for community that and I'm proud. That at the end of this month, we will finally open the doors to the Rodolfo Corky Gonzalez library at the Avondale on Irving and Colfax. And you can clap for that. You can clap for that. And it's in a neighborhood that needed it the most. And when I worked with you, sure, you work together, even though it was contentious at times, even though we had a fight for every inch, we had to say we have to look surely mark my words surely said that we have to make sure this isn't the area for where the greatest need. And we're looking at putting this library somewhere in the west side. She says it needs to be in the area with the greatest need, and we all concurred with that. And this library is going to be a game changer, and it embodies the spirit of its namesake who fight in the streets so that we have access to the same seats that you all are sitting in. And so they can sit in the front seat of their classroom and not the back seat. Right. And so that's exactly what that library entails. You, ma'am, were critical to that. And I wanted to thank you on behalf of the folks in the West Side that I represent. Thank you so much for your work, Shirley. Thank you, Councilman Lopez. Councilman Nevitt. Thank you, Madam President. Shirley, I'm really sorry to see you go. That's for sure. I'm trying to avoid the word, Shirley, but. You've been great to work with in. You know, a number of my colleagues have already talked about sort of, you know. The hurricane of. Activity and, you know, the tremendous things achieved. But I kind of like to think of you as sort of the librarian's librarian, the uber librarian, quiet, ridiculously organized, highly knowledgeable. You actually know the answer to the question before I've asked it. But you're very generous in letting me go ahead and ask the question and, you know, pretending that it's an interesting question and that that's something that you'll consider. But and the couple of things we've gotten to do together, working with Councilwoman Robb to get the funding for the bookmobile. Again, not a whole lot of drama and not a whole lot of fuss, just quietly working away, getting that done. And then the my Denver card, I remember coming to you all sort of, you know, hair on fire about how we could do this. And you explained that you'd actually been. Thinking about this for some time. And that was an excellent idea, Councilman, and we'd certainly get on it. But I think that was. Your idea before it was. Any of the rest of ours. And thank you for then quietly setting about making it happen. So librarians. Librarian, thank you for being. That. And you have big shoes to fill. Thank you, Councilman Nevitt. Next up is Councilman Fights. Thank you, Madam President. It has been a true pleasure, Shirley. Really enjoyed having you. You came at a time that followed some really tough budget cuts, and that's not a good environment to enter in to be the heroine. But you turned out. To be able to add libraries, add library hours, add library services. And you also worked with. Council. Officers very graciously to make those work for each of the areas. So I sincerely thank you. Thank you. Councilman Fox. Councilwoman Robb. Thank you, Madam President. Pro Tem. It seems like just yesterday that I met you at a reception for three candidates for city librarian. And boy, did we or I should say, the library commission choose. Right, as you've heard in all these comments. If I were to echo because really everything's been said. Any of the comments tonight? I think it would be Councilman Brooks. And I do want you to know, Councilman Brooks, there are books in the library older than you. But I really do see through the example of the main library here in Civic Center, the Central Denver Library, how much you have crafted a place that serves all people, regardless of the challenges. I remember going over and seeing the new computer technology center and it was just so exciting and I remember your excitement about it. I also remember your excitement at numerous book Lover Balls, all the dressing up and, you know, eating in the library that I don't think a librarian is actually trained for. But you were you were wonderful. I think the whole approach that you have had to community is also reflected in what we have heard from city departments and library employees about how great you are to work with. So thank you very much for your service. Thank you. Councilwoman Robb, are there other members of council? I, I want to just take the time to thank you with all of my heart and soul for all of the work that you've done in our community. As usual, the way it goes in District nine, we're always embattled in something. And the way that we bonded and started to work with one another all had to do with the potential. Closure of. The Byers Library in West Denver, one of our Carnegie. And you. Were. So supportive, understanding that politically myself and the rest of the neighborhood had to get through it. We need to we needed to speak up. We needed to advocate and. And you completely supported it and understood that never took it personally. Just understood that we were fighting the good fight to keep the library open. And as a result, it's still open today with a beautiful mural by Carlota Espinosa and then us working together to try to find a site that was a confluence. For the three council districts. And finally we found a home for the Corky Gonzalez library. And I want to assure you that I believe with all my heart that that is going to be the center of the universe. As for many of the people that live in the neighborhood and many people that will be seeking and understanding what what the Latino movement , Chicano movement was in the city of Denver and how. Much it really did forge history. In the city. So I want to thank you for your graciousness and your understanding and your unwavering bravery. And yes, you are absolutely Wonder Woman. The city librarian. Thank you. Madam Secretary, roll call, please. Lehman. Hi. Lopez. Hi. Nevett. I. Ortega. Rob Shepherd. I Susman. Brooks Potts. I can reach Madam President by. Madam Secretary, please close the voting and announce the results. It's 11 eyes. Thank you. 11 Eyes Proclamation 64 has been adopted. Councilwoman Lehman, is there someone here that you would like to invite up to the podium? Well. Would you like to come? Boo and introduce yourself. And. And then surely. Afternoon. My name is Jay Mead. I'm the president of the Denver Public Library Commission. And first, I want to say. How pleased the commission is given the signal service of Shirley to the people of the city and county of Denver. How pleased the commission is that she could be recognized. In this way. And now let me introduce Shirley. I'm all. Shirley, you stand. Shirley, I'm sorry. Our city librarian lady. Well, thank you all for the wonderful accolades it has been. This has really been the pinnacle. Of my career to. Work as the uber. Librarian. Here in the city of Denver. It has been a wonderful community, but it's it's certainly not just me. I would like to acknowledge I have some of my family here tonight who've put up with some long hours. I have my staff, two of my executive team and some other staff I think are sprinkled throughout some of our . Friends. Foundation folks. But I also want to thank city council and the mayor for the strong, strong support that you have. Given the libraries over the years. I know during those really tough. Budget times, I could always count on city council to support the library and provide whatever. Service you could. You know, given the situation to the library. I do a weekly podcast for staff. I've done over. 300 of them in. The last few years, and I always end the podcast with one phrase that I think is fitting for tonight, and. It includes not just. The staff, but all. Of us. Together, we make an. Extraordinary difference in our community. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Before we go into resolutions, I wanted to announce that we've been joined by Councilwoman Marsha Johnson. Thank you for coming in. Resolutions. Madam Secretary, will you please read the resolutions from.