Amanda Sullender 01/19/2025
Books with mature themes will soon be relegated to an adults-only room in most public libraries in Kootenai County.
The private room is a requirement of an Idaho law passed last year, and the Idaho-based Community Library Network board voted Thursday to set up such a room at the Post Falls Library.
The library board also voted to stop children’s Community Library Network library cards from accessing other library systems that may not be subject to the Idaho law.
Under its provisions , Idaho libraries are required to take action to prevent minors from having access to “obscene materials.” Different library systems are taking different approaches to comply with the law, but the conservative Community Library Network board voiced its approval for the new requirements.
The network operates libraries in Kootenai County outside of Coeur d’Alene, including in Post Falls, Hayden, Harrison, Athol, Pinehurst, Rathdrum and Spirit Lake.
At a board meeting Thursday, library director Martin Walters said he temporarily removed 140 titles from shelves for review. The newly installed director pushed back on claims that removing these books could be considered book banning.
“There is no question whatsoever of book banning taking place,” he said. “CLN is just using normal library mechanisms to carry out what I’m sure everyone in Idaho wants to see us do, which is obey the law.”
The removed books are still in the library collection and have not been permanently removed yet, he said. They do not remain on shelves, so library staff can easily evaluate their acceptability according to library policy and state law. The books will be analyzed by a new “collection development manager position,” which the board approved at the meeting.
“They are not more removed than any other item that is checked out,” he said.
Spokane-based writer Chris Crutcher said the new policy makes him “embarrassed” to have grown up in Idaho. Crutcher has written many young adult novels that have faced bans. He spent several years working as a therapist for people who endured child abuse and neglect, and also taught at an alternative school for 10 years.
“Basically, this means that teenagers in Post Falls can’t get access to books that were made for them. Sometimes kids go through tough things, and they deserve to reckon through that in fiction,” he said.
He also said that such policies are hypocritical for politicians who claim to represent parental rights.
“They don’t want to just get rid of these books for their own child, they want to do it for all children,” he said.
Since Walters was hired in September last year, the library system has received 17 requests to relocate titles. Fifteen of those requests have been completed.
Here are some of the changes in store at libraries within the Community Library Network.
‘Mature Content Collection’
The new Idaho law requires libraries to relocate material it defines as harmful to minors to an area where only adult access is allowed. The library board unanimously approved a policy Thursday to create a “Mature Content Collection” housed in a room at the Post Falls Library.
This room will only allow access to those 18 years or older. Minors may only access the room while accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Any such adult is required to sign a form attesting they are the child’s legal guardian.
At the meeting, board member Tony Ambrosetti said the library should not allow children into the mature content collection even under parental supervision – noting that some parents take their children to LGBTQ+ events.
“I can’t believe that we are all right with having parents taking,” Ambrosetti said before stopping midsentence, “… under what? Under the guise that they know what’s best for their children? Forget that if you were at Pride in the Park 2½ years ago.”
Material in this special collection includes any books or media that depict or describe “nudity, sexual conduct or sado-masochistic abuse,” as described in Idaho statute.
After the Post Falls Library mature content room is established, other special collection rooms will be considered at other district libraries based on the size of the mature content collection.
Child library cards
The Community Library Network previously allowed minors to have an all-access library card, which permitted cardholders to check out physical books in some other nearby library systems and access e-books, streaming content and other online databases. These include applications such as Libby and Hoopla.
The board voted Thursday to revoke all open-access library cards given to minors. Going forward, affected library cards will only have access to Community Library Network collections, excluding the mature content collection. Library cards can be upgraded back to open access by providing proof of adult status.
According to library staff, 8,906 library cards for minors will be affected by the change. The policy was approved in a 3-1 vote with Vanessa Robinson in opposition and Rachelle Ottosen abstaining.
The stated reasoning for the policy was that minors with open-access cards could access content banned under Idaho at Washington state libraries.
“We don’t want minors to be able to get material from non-CLN libraries because they don’t have the Idaho law,” board member Tim Plass said. “That access never should have been given, in my opinion. But under 18, we have got to end those cards.”
Assistant Library Director Lindsey Miller-Escarfuller suggested the board vote on the policy at a later date because of the disruption it could cause.
“The board has said what they want to do. But what I would ask is that you let the director and the assistant director formulate a plan, report back to the board next month,” she said. “We need to have a very smooth communications campaign, because we are removing access for 8,900 patrons, and that’s something that they’re going to be very upset about.”
Community Library Network lawyer Colton Boyles said the legal liability of immediately revoking access of 8,900 library cards would be “much greater” than the liability associated with the new Idaho law.
A majority of board members believed preventing children from access to these materials superseded these concerns.
“I’m going to protect minors, and therefore I’m not going to let minors have access to anywhere, including Washington state, including other libraries in Idaho that may not be as conservative as we are,” board member Tom Hanley said.
Acquisition policy
Plass proposed an update to the library’s material acquisition policy that would prevent any Community Library Network library from adding a book to their children, teen and young adult sections containing themes of “abortion, police discrimination, drugs, gender identity, occult, racism, rape, suicide, violence, nontraditional families or lifestyle.”
Plass said such restrictions would prevent library staff from “playing culture wars with our children.”
Library legal counsel said such a broad prohibition could put the library system at legal risk.
“I would challenge you to come up with one book – any book – that doesn’t fall into this list,” Boyles said.
The proposal never came up to a vote at the meeting, but some board members expressed an interest in revisiting it at a later date.
Response
Of the approximately 20 audience members at the meeting, most approved of the new policies.
Karen Johnson said not censoring any information for children was “absolutely obscene.”
“We have rights as adults. But we also have a responsibility to protect our kids,” Johnson said. “I’m sorry, but my children did not have certain freedoms when they were growing up in my home, and I censored a great deal for their good and their benefit.”
Others at the meeting said the board was restricting free speech. Library Alliance North Idaho President Teresa Burkett said restricting books was only based on “vague fears.”
“By requiring special permission or segregating books, the board created barriers that deter students from exercising their rights. This stigmatization is not only unconstitutional but harmful to communities, trust and public institution,” she said.
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