CLN adults-only area proposal goes nowhere, for now

POST FALLS — A Community Library Network trustee's proposed policy to lock away objectionable materials in cabinets, closets or other adults-only areas is going nowhere, for now.

Trustee Tim Plass' Adult Access Only Restricted Areas draft policy was nixed during Thursday's regular meeting of the board, held at the Post Falls Library in a small, packed room where a few had to stand as each seat was full.

"I do not think we should have to take unreasonable steps of building another wing on the library or making a special locked room," Plass said. "Any of the libraries can afford a cabinet, maybe the libraries may have an extra closet with a lock on it or something."

The draft policy called for designing restricted areas inaccessible to anyone without an Adult Open Access library card, which would only be available to those 18 and older if the card were to be implemented. Patrons younger than 30 would be asked for government-issued photo identification for proof of age when acquiring such a card, which would be used to access the adults-only area after requesting a key that would be provided by staff. The patrons would have to print and sign their names and write their library card and key numbers in a logbook, with time and date recorded. Plass included that the adults-only areas would be monitored with video cameras.

"I'm very much against a locked cabinet, I'm very much against a video camera surveilling it, I'm very much against having to sign out a key and sign it back in with a timestamp," Trustee Vanessa Robinson said, adding that she feels the network is already covered regarding taking reasonable steps to follow Idaho's new library law to keep harmful materials out of minors' hands.

Vice Chair Tom Hanley commended Plass for the draft policy, but also said he heavily edited the draft as he read through it several times.

"It was so red in terms of the edits I couldn't read what I wrote anymore," Hanley said.

He said the draft contained conflicting policy language as well as many procedural sentences. He then proceeded to hand out his own version of the draft policy that he said he believes captured "the essential elements of the Plass draft while giving staff more latitude in how to implement the new law."

According to the "Children and Vulnerable Adults" law that went into effect July 1, institutions such as schools and libraries must, within 60 days, review and relocate materials found to be objectionable to minors to areas not accessible to minors if a written relocation request is submitted. If the institution fails to do so, it would be required to pay $250 to the party that filed the cause of action.

Thursday marked Library Director Martin Walters' first official meeting and fourth day with the Community Library Network. 

In response to Plass' draft, Walters said it's a complicated collection development issue to be handled by those with the most knowledge and experience — the librarians.

He said from what he's read, it seems the public trusts librarians.

"We are specialists in information, so I would hope that that trust would be extended to me as the director here," he said. "Collection development is my area, my specialty, it's what I do."

Walters said he would like to assess the collection before any decisions are made about allocating spaces for materials. He said when he read the legislation, he understood it to be more along the lines of "if the person comes across it, then it has to be relocated."

"If we create a room, you're almost saying, 'Hey, let's create a room for this type of material,'" he said.

He said he is familiar with the turmoil in the community surrounding libraries. He said he is the director of the network now and would appreciate the chance to do his job.

"Usually, other people in these settings don't tell other people how to do their jobs," he said. "I just know the community has shown they are willing to trust their experts."

He said the ongoing culture war and information war is obvious.

"We never send our children to war," he said. "The fact that the legislation is required speaks volumes, in regards to the children. In regards to the adults, a public library is a neutral institution. It is a balanced, neutral institution. We're not journalists, we're not doctors, we are a neutral institution."

"I am a professional librarian who believes that libraries have been and should continue to be neutral, balanced institutions. We are not agents of social change," he said as people began to applaud.

"The public library is a neutral institution. It is not religion, it's not politics, none of that stuff comes into play," he said. "That's what I believe as a professional librarian, that's what I'm going to deliver here at the Community Library Network."