How the Idaho library law might affect your child’s school libraries

Public schools in Idaho are working to make sure their school libraries comply with the state’s new ‘Harmful to Minors’ law.

The law went into effect on July 1 and restricts public and school libraries from having any “harmful material” that could be accessed by children. If a library fails to adhere to the law, it risks being sued.

Lakeland Joint School District in the Idaho Panhandle has been editing their policy for a while in preparation for back-to-school.

“We didn’t want a group of parents making decisions for other people’s children,” said Lakeland Superintendent, Lisa Arnold.

The district pulled some books off the shelves that it believes might meet the law’s definition of “harmful.”

Many opponents of the law have expressed concerns that it unfairly targets the LGBTQ+ community.

The school district said it had questions about what to do with books in the LGBTQ+ genre.

“If we have a book that maybe fits in the LGBTQ kind of genre, does that fit? And so the guidance from our legal department was the law is actually talking about graphic sexual activity, not just a state of being,” said Arnold.

The district also had to address classroom libraries.

“Each teacher will create a catalog of the book titles that are in the classroom and then provide that to parents, and then the parents will either opt in or opt out. So, the kids either get to have access to the classroom library or don’t get any access to the classroom library,” said Arnold.

All of the district’s library and curriculum materials go though a board-approval process during meetings that are open to the public.

While individual teachers can be held liable for giving harmful material to minors, Arnold said their policy complies with the time frame they have to review material, so that isn’t much of a concern.

Coeur d”Alene Public Schools has also been working to comply with the law.

Part of it’s process was creating forms for parents and guardians to submit materials they would like reviewed for harmful content.

The district had a public reading of the policy revisions on August 12. You can find the drafted policies HERE and HERE.

The district is now giving the community 30 days to make public comment on the drafted policies. An official said they will take public comment into consideration, refine the policy and present it back to the board for adoption in September.

“We have put some materials last year on reserve, so that if you do want to check out a particular title, it would require a parent or guardian authorization to be able to do so,” said Dr. Mike Nelson, Deputy Superintendent of Public Schools.

Both the Lakeland Join School District and Coeur d’Alene Public Schools will establish committees to review any material parents feel might be harmful to children.

How the Idaho library law might affect your child’s school libraries

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