On April 10, House Bill 710 was approved and signed by Governor Brad Little.
This bill will remove “harmful” and “explicit” materials, as deemed by the bill’s texts, in public and school libraries (K-12) and put them in an adult-only section, restricting access to minors.
The bill will go into full effect on July 1, 2024.
“I share the cosponsors’ desire to keep truly inappropriate library materials out of the hands of minors,” Little wrote in a letter stated in the Idaho Capital Sun after he approved the bill.
Chris Sokol, the director of the Latah County Library District, commented on the bill.
“This kind of legislation is so new and so foreign to those of us who work in public libraries that we’re only beginning to figure out how to interpret this law,” Sokol wrote in an email. “The Latah County Library District will need to have in-depth conversations with our attorney to interpret what an ‘adults only’ section of the library will mean in terms of allowing minors to even enter our libraries.”
Sokol believes that this bill will add censorship to libraries.
“This law will effectively deter Idaho libraries from adding certain types of materials to their collections, especially those with LGBTQ+ topics as well as classic and sex education materials for young people who need this kind of information,” Sokol wrote. “There’s no way we can keep things ‘behind the counter,’ as some Idaho legislators propose.”
Sokol goes on to discuss how the Moscow Public Library is set up so that anyone going through the main entrance must walk into the adult section.
Another concern is the time and money that would be put into implementing the changes outlined in the bill.
“First, we’ll need to spend an enormous amount of taxpayer-paid staff time and board of trustees’ time to reconfigure our policies and procedures and how we create library card accounts for minors,” Sokol wrote. “We could potentially be spending a lot of time managing requests for reconsideration of where materials are located and finding a place to put challenged materials. And then there’s the potential cost of $250 a pop if the complainant ‘prevails’ in their action for reconsideration.”
Sokol also shares her concerns regarding online materials accessed through the library.
The Latah County Library uses a site that partners with other libraries across the state called the Valnet Library Consortium. This has online materials that, according to Sokol, no one has an idea of how to restrict access to it.
“How can we control that?” Sokol wrote. “It’s not clear how we would be able to guarantee separate ‘adults only’ access to downloadable materials.”
Sokol further states that it is not the library’s place to restrict materials for minors.
“It is up to parents and guardians to take parenting responsibilities and oversee how their children use library resources,” Sokol wrote. “Most parents do not want other parents telling them what their children should do, and that’s what this law will allow.”
When asked if the bill would positively impact the library, she said it wouldn’t.
“It’s obvious many of (the legislators) are not familiar with how public libraries work in a democracy such as ours,” Sokol said. “The law will impact the freedom to read, not only for minors but also for adults.”
Any interested party can view the full bill on the Idaho Legislature’s Website.
Andrea Roberts can be reached at [email protected]du.