CLN: Adult-only access room is censorship

I am deeply concerned about the Community Library Network’s decision to create an adult access only room in the Post Falls Library, restricting young readers from books that belong in the Young Adult section and elsewhere in the library. This is censorship and a violation of First Amendment rights.

At the Jan. 16 CLN meeting, library director Martin Walters reported that out of 9,719 minor library cards, over 91% (8,906) are Open Access, meaning parents have chosen to allow their children full access to library materials. Only 728 minors have Limited Child Access cards, and just 85 have Limited Teen Access cards. These numbers prove that the overwhelming majority of parents trust their children to choose their own reading materials. Yet the library board would like to force minors to have restricted cards, regardless of parental wishes. The library’s decision to restrict access undermines parental rights and adds unnecessary barriers.

These new policies are especially troubling as Idaho’s new library law, which imposes restrictions on materials available to minors, is already being challenged in court for its unconstitutional overreach. The CLN board’s definition of “harmful to minors” is not being based on legal standards or literary value but instead on their puritanical ideology and personal prejudices. Public libraries exist to provide free and open access to knowledge, not to act as gatekeepers based on personal views. 

The Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed that restricting access to books in public libraries raises serious constitutional concerns. If parents wish to monitor their own children’s reading, that is their responsibility — not the library’s. 

I urge the Community Library Network to reverse this decision and uphold the principles of free speech, parental choice, and open access that libraries are meant to protect.

TAMARA SINES-KERMELIS

Concerned Parent and Reader

Hayden