Want to challenge a book under the new library law? Check local policies first.
After House Bill 710 went into effect July 1, schools and public libraries have updated their procedures for book challenges.
But each policy looks a little different, and that includes an array of standards for who can file a challenge. Some schools and libraries allow anyone to ask that a book be relocated or removed; others grant only patrons the privilege.
The new law — known as the “Children’s School and Library Protection Act” — codified two major changes to book reconsideration policies at schools and public libraries.
First, it allowed minors or their parents or guardians to initiate a 60-day review process of an inappropriate book — or other material — that the minor obtained from the library. If the complainants aren’t satisfied with the review, they can file a civil lawsuit. This process is clearly limited to patrons, who can check out a book with a library card.
Second, the law mandated that schools and libraries have a book challenge form that refers to the “harmful to minors” definition. These documents, often called “request for reconsideration” forms, were commonplace in libraries prior to HB 710.
The law doesn’t explicitly say who’s eligible to submit such a form, and many libraries are maintaining their previous policies — that only district patrons can submit one.
Library officials are feeling like “This has been our policy, and we’re not opening it up to someone who’s not a taxpaying member of our jurisdiction,” said Mary DeWalt, director of the Ada Community Library.
The more restrictive policy guards against individuals or groups targeting books in various libraries.
“Our position on this is the fact that it needs to be the parent or legal guardian or the minor themselves who has accessed the material directly,” DeWalt said. “Someone sending a list from New Jersey is not in that appropriate legal position. They don’t have standing.”
The Meridian Library District’s new 18-page “request for reconsideration” form meticulously lays out definitions and standards that will guide book challenges going forward. It also explains the nuances of complying with the state law while also respecting the First Amendment right to access information.
The Meridian policy says that anyone can ask the library district to reconsider keeping a book in circulation. But it adds:
“Requests received from individuals or groups who do not use or have access to district materials will not be considered by the district.”
On Monday, the Boise School District went a step further. The board of trustees adopted an updated policy that says only parents or guardians of a child enrolled in a district school can challenge a library book. The previous policy said a “person who resides within” the district could challenge a book as well as parents or guardians.
Some school districts limiting book challenges to patrons are following the advice of the Idaho School Boards Association. The ISBA recently released guidance that says the request to move or remove material set out in HB 710 is “specific to minors or their parent or guardian who obtained material from a school district or library.”
“Declining to accept challenges or review requests from individuals who do not reside within the district’s boundaries or have another connection to the school may be prudent,” the ISBA guidance says.
At first glance, it’s not apparent that HB 710 allows local policies to limit who can challenge a book. But library leaders say their attorneys have studied the new law and found that limiting challenges to patrons is compliant. After all, one has to have access to a library before they can be “harmed” by what’s on the shelves.
“We are confident that it is in compliance,” Meridian library director Nick Grove said of his district’s policy. “Everything was done in coordination with our legal counsel. We’re not playing around.”
HB 710’s legislative sponsor, Rep. Jaron Crane, R-Nampa, did not respond to requests for comment.
Not all libraries are limiting who can challenge books, however. In Boise, anybody can ask the public library to review whether a book aligns with the collection standards.
Same goes for Idaho Falls. Library director Robert Wright said keeping the form accessible was motivated by citizens’s right to air grievances with the government.
“We’re always willing to listen to people and hear their concerns,” Wright said. “That’s what representative government is about, right?”
Meanwhile, the new law hasn’t produced a surge in book challenges, as some expected. There have been no challenges since July 1 at the Ada Community, Boise or Idaho Falls libraries.
“It’s been business as usual,” DeWalt said.
