Library books are a focus for Idaho Republicans. What you should know about 2 proposals

BOISE – Amid national strife over how children are educated, lawmakers in Idaho are trying to pass bills that limit what materials youth can access at libraries.

Republicans introduced a bill to the Senate on Friday that would require local school boards to create policies for what they hold in their libraries, assemble committees to review challenged materials, and provide complete lists of their holdings to parents.

Friday’s bill, which has 11 supporters in the House, follows the introduction of a House bill that would allow parents at public and school libraries to sue if they believe their children were allowed access to “harmful” materials.

As books at libraries are increasingly banned across the country, often for depicting LGBTQ+ themes, many librarians have criticized the efforts to have books pulled from the shelves.

“The proposed amendments … undermine the rights of library users by placing the power of censorship into the hands of a few,” Lance McGrath, president of the Idaho Library Association, told the Idaho Statesman of the House bill in an email. “Under the proposed changes, a single individual can restrict access to constitutionally protected materials.”

Bill on system to challenge books

The Senate bill, called the School Library Material Care Act, proposes a new section of law to require school boards to develop policies for how they select library materials, periodically review those items, post a complete inventory of what they have and set up a system through which parents can “challenge” materials and have them reviewed by a committee. The law would apply to school libraries only, not public libraries.

“As we’re all aware, we’re statewide kind of embroiled in some controversy over materials that are available in public libraries and school libraries,” Sen. Geoff Schroeder, a former teacher and Mountain Home Republican, told a legislative committee Friday.

The bill would require materials be pulled from shelves while they are under review and require a newly formed “library materials review committee” to hold a public meeting about the item within 45 days. The committee could be composed of the members of the local school board or appointed with parents, educators and school administrators.

If a library does not comply with the committee’s decision about a material, the school library would be ordered closed.

“Is what you’re telling me that this is intended to address the issues … with pornographic or other inappropriate materials being given to children in public schools?” said Sen. Kelly Anthon, R-Burley, at the committee hearing.

“Yes,” Schroeder said. “There needs to be a fair way to evaluate whether or not that material is useful in the classroom. … This allows the people in that local community to make the decision.”

Sen. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, told the Statesman in a statement that she thinks schools are already prohibiting pornography and that she’s “not clear” on what other harmful materials are in school libraries.

“I wish we would focus our precious time on the kinds of issues Idahoans really care about, like making sure schools are properly funded and fixing our upside-down tax system,” Wintrow said.

Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, has called the controversy over school materials a “fabricated crisis.”

Parents’ complaints about books at Treasure Valley schools have largely taken issue with depictions of LGBTQ+ life and sexuality, according to previous Statesman reporting.

Bill on damages for ‘obscene,’ ‘harmful’ materials

A bill from Rep. Jaron Crane, R-Nampa, would allow parents to sue public and school libraries for damages if they claim their child was given materials deemed “harmful” to them.

The bill, which builds on Idaho’s obscenity law, would classify materials as “harmful” if they are obscene, appeal to the “prurient interest of minors” and are “patently offensive to prevailing standards” of local adults. The definition of “obscene” materials include depictions of nudity, masturbation, sex and “homosexuality.”

If a person complains about an item, the library would have 30 days to relocate it to an adult section. After that, the complainant could sue for $250 in damages plus any other “actual damages.”

McGrath, president of the Idaho Library Association, said the bill would “wreak havoc” on library budgets, potentially requiring libraries to create “adults only” sections, renovate their buildings or hire additional staff to “monitor movement in the library and check IDs.”

“Since the law is so vague, libraries will not know whether any particular item may be subjectively challenged under this bounty law,” McGrath said. “If libraries are able to comply with the requirements of this law, they face the very real threat of violating the civil rights of library users whose access to constitutionally protected library materials has been infringed.”

Gov. Brad Little vetoed a similar bill introduced by Crane last year over concerns the vagueness of what’s “harmful” would “force one interpretation of that phrase onto all the patrons of the library,” he said in a letter to lawmakers. Crane’s new bill reduced the damages from $2,500 to $250 and added the 30-day delay.

“Protecting children should be a priority for all Idahoans,” Crane said in a news release. “Libraries play an important role in our community, but they must take responsible, ‘reasonable steps’ to local materials that Idaho code … deems harmful to minors, into a section of the library that is for adults only.”

Heather Stout, co-founder of Fight for the First North Central Idaho Alliance, which advocates for the “right to read,” told the Statesman by email that parents should make decisions about what their child can read, not legislators.

Fining libraries because a child checks out a library book “is not only an undue burden on our libraries, it is also an undue burden on Idaho taxpayers,” she said.

Ian Max Stevenson covers state politics and climate change at the Idaho Statesman. He can be reached at (208) 274-3538 or by email at istevenson@idahostatesman.com.