Bill would require schools have library materials review policies
Two bills addressing library materials have been introduced in the Idaho Legislature. One would require school boards to develop library materials policies and the other would have local communities review library books that come into question as being inappropriate for minors, and allow citizens to sue librarians who don't comply with committee decisions.
BILL BULEY/Press file
One week into the Idaho Legislative session, Idaho Republicans introduced a second piece of legislation concerning limitation of library materials.
Friday morning, the Legislature’s Senate State Affairs Committee introduced legislation to add a section to Idaho Code 33-512 that requires Idaho school boards to develop policies to select, review and reconsider library materials.
Coined the “School Library Material Care Act” by sponsors, Senate Bill 1221 would also require school boards to establish a “library materials review committee,” basically, a group of parents, educators and administrators who review requests for reconsideration of school library items.
Sen. Geoff Schroeder, R-Mountain Home, presented the legislation to “address the controversy” surrounding library materials in Idaho schools. The proposed legislation has garnered support from 11 cosponsors in the House of Representatives.
According to the legislation, library materials review committees would have 45 days to discuss a community member’s request to remove material from any library.
If a library does not comply with the committee’s decisionl, then it would have to close until doing so.
Schroeder, who has experience teaching at Mountain Home High School, said the goal is to avoid “the availability of pornography” without denying access to educational materials.
“There needs to be a fair way to evaluate whether or not that material is useful in the classroom or isn’t,” he said. “And this allows the people in that local community to make the decision about whether these materials are appropriate or not.”
Friday’s legislation comes two days after Republicans in the House State Affairs Committee introduced a bill to allow community members to sue libraries if they provide “harmful materials” to minors.
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