A federal child product safety law has staff at the Morton James Public Library quarantining books behind bright orange plastic and wondering how many must be pulled forever from the shelves.

The Consumer Product Safety Act, which passed last summer, forbids distribution of children’s books that contain lead. It also requires manufactures and importers to have all children’s products tested for lead through an independent laboratory.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission told librarians that the Feb. 12 deadline to remove books accessible by children under age 12 has been extended one year.

Language in the law that says children shall not be exposed to lead, concerned librarians that children under 12 would have to be banned from the library or the children’s section.
The commission reports, however, that penalties will not be imposed against libraries for distributing “ordinary children’s books printed after 1985.”

Over 1,000 books with 1985 or older on the copyright page have already been quarantined behind an orange curtain.

Library Director Barbara Hegr said librarians will try to determine if the edition is a printing after the copyright date, so the book may be preserved.

Books removed include “Saint George and The Dragon,” a 1985 winner of the Caldecott Medal Award for its artwork and illustrations. The book has been checked out 50 times.

A 1974 copy of Shel Silverstein’s “Where The Sidewalk Ends” has also been removed, along with Walt Disney Biographies, Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys collections.

Hegr said it is normal for the library to remove about 2,000 titles per year from its inventory, but half of those would be outdated magazines. About a fifth of all the books in the children’s library are already under quarantine and Hegr said the budget does not include such a large replacement program.

The library’s oldest books, which date back to 1858, are not generally circulated. The lead law does not impact books in adult and young adult sections.