Dear Editor, From Heritage Defenders

On behalf of Heritage Defenders, I would like to respond to some false accusations made by Eugene Hainer and John Sutherland regarding the stand that our group has made opposing the inappropriate sexually explicit content found in the homework help tabs in the EBSCO database at the Lamar Public Library. We have been accused of “grandstanding,” lying, censorship, and simply wanting to “get our name in the paper!”   Our mission is to “commit to educate and inform our fellow American citizens in order to defend the U.S. Constitution and guard virtue and freedoms as One Nation Under God. We strive to plant seeds of truth.”

We have shown the inappropriate sexually explicit material to our Mayor on several occasions, to the City Administrator, librarian, members of the library advisory board, school superintendent, and various community members. We applaud the librarian for “cleaning up” the primary search tab and, with our input, excluding magazines like Cosmopolitan, Lesbian News, Men’s Health, and Women’s Health from the Primary and Middle Search tabs.  Unfortunately, the Middle and High School tabs are still quite offensive. EBSCO is fully aware of this and claims that their database is proprietary and cannot be filtered. The City of Lamar is paying thousands and thousands of dollars to EBSCO, Colorado Library Consortium, EBSCO “stand alone” databases, and Overdrive database to promote an agenda that targets and victimizes children.  Mr. Sutherland stated that EBSCO is being perceived as the “boogeyman.”  Well, folks, it IS the boogeyman to young unsuspecting minors, believing themselves to be using a safe school research database where they can easily stumble upon sexually explicit and shocking material that can devastate them for the rest of their lives and possibly lead to addiction or a dangerous sex predator.

Our plea has been to remove all sexually explicit material from the homework help tabs! Not only is it immoral, but it is illegal.

Mr. Hainer stated in his letter to the editor that Utah reopened the EBSCO database in their schools because they “have not been able to replicate” access to inappropriate materials. He failed to mention that nearly 80% of it was “cleaned up” due to a cooperative effort with parents. In October, 2018, his friend Mr. LaRue, the director of ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom, stated in one of his articles that, “an estimated 130 schools have quietly removed the resource (EBSCO). It may be larger.”   Our efforts have been mocked and belittled even though these people are fully aware of the sincere and truthful concerns of the citizens.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where mainstream media and global elitists with billions of dollars rule by dictating their liberal leftist agenda to the unsuspecting masses. But, our group, plain and simple as we are, believes in one Truth.  One which, because it comes from a Biblical worldview , will entail persecution. “For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”  Ephesians 6:12.

Thank you once again for your time,
Barbara Hernandez on behalf of Heritage Defenders
Surrey Ridge
Lamar, CO