Idaho librarians protest book bill
BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) - Idaho librarians are speaking out against a bill that would limit access to certain books.
House Bill 384 introduced by State Rep. Jaron Crane (R-Nampa), would prevent people under the age of 18 from reading or checking out what it calls “obscene materials.” That includes any “act of homosexuality,” even as benign as holding hands.
But to some librarians, their resistance to the bill isn’t about ideology. It’s simply about cost.
Robert Wright, director of the Idaho Falls Public Library, has spent a week in Boise testifying against H.B. 384.
“My understanding is that this bill requires libraries to create an adults-only section,” he said, “which means a section of the library that would not be available to anyone under 18.”
“This means we’ve got to police the library,” he continued, “which turns my librarians and my library staff into policemen instead of people there to help you. And that’s problematic for us.”
Wright believes the proposed restrictions would be nigh impossible to enforce.
“For smaller libraries,” he explained, “it’s just the cost involved. I talked to Soda Springs’s librarian. She says they have two librarians on-duty. And in the summertime, they’ll have 600 kids that’ll come into the library at once. How do two people police 600 kids?”
Under H.B. 384, any parent or guardian could declare any book “obscene,” and the library would be forced to keep it from kids. The library would have no ability to review or appeal it.
“The library has 30 days to move that to an adults-only area,” Wright said. “There’s no due process. You either move it or get sued.”
“It has really vague definitions,” he continued. “It says, ‘anything else that’s harmful to minors.’ So if you thought The Very Hungry Caterpillar was harmful to minors, because of the vagueness of the bill, it’s possible that you could challenge that.”
The bill’s predecessor, H.B. 314, passed both chambers last year but was vetoed by Gov. Brad Little.
“I was very concerned that some of the language in there would create a bounty system,” Gov. Little told Local News 8, “where people could get $2,500, particularly from a small, single-room library only run by volunteers.”
This time around, if a library doesn’t restrict a book within 30 days of a complaint, the bounty is $250.
“That doesn’t seem like a whole lot,” Wright said, “but they can also sue for attorney’s fees, and those can be substantial. And if you look at a smaller library, the $250 could be a big hit to them, but the attorney’s fees are going to be an even larger hit.”
“And if you make the viability of a library much more expensive, or maybe even not [viable] at all,” Gov. Little said, “it’s going to have a detrimental effect on all of Idaho.”
H.B. 384 was supposed to be voted on in the Idaho House of Representatives Thursday. Instead, it was returned to the State Affairs Committee, which it had previously passed through 11-2 along party lines. Now lawmakers have a chance to change or kill the bill entirely.
Wright stressed that he’s spoken with the lawmakers behind the bill, and he believes they have good intentions. He just doesn’t think they know how libraries operate.
If H.B. 384 becomes law and the costs stay the same, Wright said libraries will only have one option.
“They’re saying it’s not a book-banning bill, he said. “They’re saying they’re not removing books, they’re not banning books. But in essence, that’s the fallout.”
