Local parents want to limit access to ‘bad’ books at Idaho Falls Public Library
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IDAHO FALLS — Halli Stone and Parents Against Bad Books were out in front of the Idaho Falls Public Library Thursday afternoon, hoping to bring awareness to the types of books children have access to in the library.
“These books can be checked out here,” Stone said, gesturing at the table the group had set up. “Everyone has access to them, including children.”
The organization is in the process of requesting all the books on display be reconsidered by the Idaho Falls Public Library’s director, board or trustees and the mayor’s library liaison.
Anyone concerned about the appropriateness of library resources can petition for it to be reconsidered. After a review, the director and committee will make a recommendation to retain the material in its original location, to relocate the material to an advisory location or to remove the material from the library entirely.
Describing the material as “X-rated” and “pornographic,” the group would prefer to have the “bad” books removed from the library.
“We are hoping IFPL Library Director, Robert Wright; the Board of Trustee members; and the Mayor Casper’s Library Liaison, Michelle Ziel-Dingman; will take the lead from other states and save our kids from the ‘impairment of the ethical and moral development of our youth‘ … by moving these books to a protected area in the Library.”
However, Parents Against Bad Books does recognize that may not happen. They’d be happy with less-drastic measures, too, Stone said.
“At the very least, we would want these materials to be put behind the counter,” Stone said.
The library implemented a new card policy restricting who can check out material with more adult themes. The library now offers three different types of access for children to prevent them from accessing certain types of material.
- Restricted child card – Children will only be able to check out materials available in the children’s department.
- Unrestricted child card – Kids can check out materials throughout the whole library, except for adult graphic novels, Blu-rays and DVDs.
- Adult cards (issued to those 18+) – These allow library patrons to check out all materials the library offers.
While they acknowledge the move by the library and its board, the restricted library cards are not enough, they said.
“Unless the library plans to move all of their … ‘obscene’ books into the Adult Graphic Novels area and carefully guard this section, the minor children will continue to stay at the open-access-to-all third floor of the IFPL, read the books, no matter the section designation, and go home,” Harrison said.
“The library said that they’ve helped us,” volunteer Kelly Porter told EastIdahoNews.com. “But they really haven’t because any kid can go in there and just pull it off the shelf.”
“It’s not a book ban,” Stone asserted. “If parents want to allow their kids access to those books, they can still buy them at a bookstore or order them off Amazon.” A public library, funded by taxpayers’ dollars is not the place for such inappropriate materials, she said.
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EastIdahoNews.com reached out to the Idaho Falls Public Library several times for a comment; however, they have yet to respond. The library’s official statement about the restricted cards policy can be viewed here.
An excerpt from that policy reads: “We have professional, experienced, master-degreed librarians that curate our collection,” the library states on its website. “With over 360,000 items in our catalog, it would be impossible for our staff to view every page of every item. We will always apply the law. When reviewing materials we often seek legal counsel to make sure our decisions continue to follow the law.”
The “bad” books Parents Against Bad Books is challenging are listed here:
“A Court of Frost and Starlight”
“Lawn Boy” (author: Jonathan Evison)
“Abuela
“Between Us and Abuela”
“City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments, #6)
“What Girls Are Made of”
“Twisted”
“Tilt”
“TTYL”
“The Perks of Being a Wallflower”
“The Haters”
“The Bluest Eye”
“Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story”
“Damsel” – Banned in Utah;
“Fallout” – Banned in Utah
“Crank”
“Forever”
“Looking for Alaska”
“Me and Earl and the Dying Girl”
“Out of Darkness”
“The Prince and the Dressmaker”
“All Boys Aren’t Blue”
“Clockwork Princess”