After Republicans passed legislation allowing parents to sue libraries over promoting books that are considered “obscene” or inappropriate for children, Iowa libraries have figured out a way to beat the system, per the Daily Mail.
Public and school libraries were given 60 days to remove the books or place them in a dedicated location for adults only placed under the supervision of staff. If they did not comply, the institutions would face lawsuits from parents.
Since many of the libraries were too small to designate special sections or lacked the staff to ensure the rules were being followed, they came up with a different idea.
Instead, libraries decided to ban children from the library.
Idaho Falls Public Library placed signs up letting visitors know that anyone under the age of 30 would have to show proper ID. It allows children to enter the library if they have an unrestricted library card, showing that their parents are okay with them browsing alone, or being accompanied by a parent. The parent with the child “must sign an affidavit every time” they enter the library.
The Donnelly Public Library, a small library outside of Boise, said that they would not allow children at all, due to it being too small to enforce the law.
“Our size prohibits us from separating our ‘grown up’ books to be out of the accessible range of children,” the library said.
“Because we don’t have an attorney on retainer, we can’t take those chances. We need to let it be fought out by somebody other than a small and rural library.”
The library prohibits children from even using the bathroom with the supervision of an adult unless they participate in a program that would require the parents to sign a waiver.
The library admitted that its policy would have a “drastic” impact on children who are homeschooled, but said that it had to protect its employees and taxpayers’ money.
Rep. Megan Egbert (D-IA) said that most of the libraries would not be able to stay open because they do not possess the resources to supervise an adult-only section.
“We’re talking about one-room libraries throughout Idaho that might have one paid staff member, or they might be all volunteer,” she said. “It’s not doable for many of them.”
The new law would allow parents to sue libraries and their staff for $250, along with any other “relief available by law,” which Egbert suggests would make lawsuits uncapped.
Iowa Gov. Brad Little (R) vetoed a previous version of the bill that would have allowed parents to sue for $2,500 each time their child was able to access “harmful material.”
“It ‘would have created a library bounty system so egregious that smaller libraries would have been forced to close their doors to minors altogether,” he said.
“This legislation makes sweeping, blanket assumptions on materials that could be determined as ‘harmful to minors’ in a local library, and it will force one interpretation of that phrase onto all the patrons of the library.”
While many protested the new law, others praised it, saying that children should not be subjected to adult-themed books.
Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris released bodycam footage of him at the Hayden Public Library going through the young adult section, searching for inappropriate material.
On camera, he said that libraries were “enticing” children with inappropriate books, “like the old-fashioned guy in the van with candy.”
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