Kootenai libraries approved all mature book relocations, except the Bible.

Kootenai libraries approve all mature book relocations, except the Bible.

News Story by James Hanlon | The Spokesman-Review

The library system in Kootenai County is moving 16 young adult books into its new adults-only room as it vets materials that have drawn concern from members of the community as being inappropriate for children.

The library system did not consider a request to move the Bible into the mature content room.

The Community Library Network board of trustees last month approved the creation of its mature content collection for materials it considers “harmful to minors” under the state’s new Children’s School and Library Protection Act. The materials will be held in a room for adult access only at the Post Falls Library.

The library network oversees six libraries in Kootenai County outside Coeur d’Alene and Pinehurst Library in Shoshone County.

Since last summer, the network received requests to relocate 17 titles to the mature collection. A public records request confirmed that all of those requests were approved for the collection except one.

The library is separately and proactively reviewing a list of 140 titles – most of them young adult novels meant for teens – for possible inclusion in the collection. The records confirm that only the 16 requested titles are officially part of the collection as of Feb. 10.

The Idaho law requires libraries to relocate “materials harmful to minors to an area with adult access only” within 60 days of a minor or their parent or legal guardian requesting the material be relocated.

“Harmful to minors” is defined as any work containing nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement or sado-masochistic abuse, that when “considered as a whole” lacks “serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value for minors.”

Supporters say the law is helping to keep teens and kids safe from obscene material. Critics say that it’s keeping relevant books from kids and teens.

The law is facing two federal lawsuits arguing it violates the First Amendment.

Community Library Network officials say the new policy is designed to comply with the law and is not an attempt to censor books. They also say it is not book banning because the library is not removing the books from its catalogue; it is merely relocating them.

However, the library network is taking a more aggressive approach than many other Idaho libraries by preemptively reviewing books that were not specifically requested by patrons.

It is not clear when the room will be open or how the age restriction will be enforced.

The 16 books include “Thirteen Reasons Why” by Jay Asher. It was the third-most frequently challenged book from 2010-19, according to the American Library Association, and was adapted as a Netflix series.

Another of the books is a graphic novel: “Deogratias: A Tale of Rwanda,” by Jean-Philippe Stassen about the Rwandan genocide from a teenager’s perspective. The American Library Association listed it as one of the Best Books for Young Adults in 2007, and the Young Adult Library Services Association included it on its list of Great Graphic Novels for Teens.

The Community Library Network left the American Library Association in 2023.

Many of the written relocation request forms match verbatim, including ellipses and excerpts from the website Book Looks, which catalogs content it considers objectionable for children. Several requests attach the entire Book Looks summary while underlining or highlighting some sections.

The names of those who submitted each relocation form were redacted.

Authors respond

Two books by Ellen Hopkins are among the first approved for the mature collection. Hopkins’ books frequently appear on most-banned or challenged books lists. She is also the author with the most titles on the list of 140 titles the library is separately reviewing.

A relocation request for her book “Fallout” excerpts two pages of passages it says are examples of “sexual conduct” or “sado-masochistic abuse” under the law.

“Fallout” is the third book in the “Crank” series inspired by Hopkins’ daughter’s meth addiction. “Fallout” is about the teenage children of the main character dealing with the fallout of her addiction.

In one excerpt, for example, a teenage girl briefly entertains a fantasy about having a threesome.

In another, the girl recounts a sexual experience that is “not gentle,” saying she nonetheless invites it.

The requester writes, “These passages are completely inappropriate for minors. Sado-masochistic abuse, sexual conduct, and glorification of rape. … When taken as a whole this material has no serious literary value.”

In an interview with the Spokesman-Review, Hopkins said her young adult novels are recommended for ages 14 and up, but it depends on the reader. Regardless, the books are meant for the young adult category, not adults, she said.

“There are kids that are maybe 12 that could read those books because of things they’ve already experienced in their lives,” Hopkins said.

“Traffick,” a book on the list of 140, is about victims of teen sex trafficking. Hopkins said children who have lived through sexual abuse need to know they can be OK after that.

“The books are super important for the kids who need them,” Hopkins said. “They’re not right for every kid or everybody, but they are certainly right for some.”

“Impulse” is the second book by Hopkins that was approved for the mature collection. Out of all of her books, that one definitely should not be included, she said.

The book is about teenagers recovering from suicide attempts at a psychiatric hospital. The troubled characters use some profanity, have sexual longings and troubling stories in their backgrounds, but nothing that could be considered pornographic or even R-rated, Hopkins said.

Readers have told her the book saved their lives.

When asked if there is any room for mature themes in teen literature, especially in a cautionary tale or for those who have already experienced abuse, library board chair Rachelle Ottosen wrote in an email:

“There is no legal justification for libraries to make pornographic materials available to minors. Parents can check out whatever books they wish, and share with their own children as they feel appropriate. I don’t believe sexually abused teenagers are going to be able to make sense of their abuse by viewing or reading pornographic materials; I believe it furthers the harm already done. There is space for other mature topics, so long as it doesn’t violate the law.”

Hopkins said the problem with relying on a parent to access a book is that most books are discovered browsing the shelves.

“How are they going to know to look for them if they are in a room where they can’t even see them?” Hopkins said.

A request to relocate “The Summer of Owen Todd” by Tony Abbott says the book contains sexual conduct and sexual excitement, in violation of the statute, and attaches a hyperlink to the website screenitfirst.com “for specific pages & excerpts.”

“The Summer of Owen Todd” is about an 11-year-old boy who faces a dilemma when he learns his friend is being molested by an adult, but the friend tells him not to tell anyone. The publisher recommends the book for ages 10-14.

Abbott, like Hopkins, says the book isn’t for every young reader.

“It shouldn’t be forced on students who are not interested or ready,” Abbott said.

Yet it is about a situation some young people find themselves in, and Abbott said they should have access to it.

“To have it in a prison away from children is not a good idea,” Abbott said.

He acknowledged that keeping the book sequestered in a separate room is better than banning it altogether. If a child were interested in reading the book, they could make the case to a parent or trusted adult to check it out for them, which would be better than having no access to it.

But the barrier of not knowing how to talk to an adult about a sensitive problem is a theme of the book.

“When a child is in trouble, in many cases they tend to keep it to themselves,” Abbott said. If they are being groomed, they might not know what is happening or how to explain it, or they might think it’s their fault.”

Abbott said a child could simply hand this book to a parent or a teacher and say, “I think this is what is happening to me or my friend and I don’t know what to do.”

“Wouldn’t that be a valuable tool for a child if he or she knows something wrong is going on without having to go through the agony of describing it?” Abbott said.

But Abbott takes a nuanced view, acknowledging there could be value in adult gatekeepers, but both sides should be considered when talking about restricting access to books like this.

He said it’s difficult to say where the book should be shelved, but suggested the young adult section rather than the children’s section as a happy medium. Although the book is below the young adult reading level, a teenager could benefit from it. Or perhaps a teen reader would recognize what is happening to a younger sibling and report it to an adult without the sibling even needing to read it.

“The Miseducation of Cameron Post,” by Emily Danforth is about a lesbian teenager growing up in rural Montana in the ’90s who is sent to a gay conversion camp. It won the 2012 Montana Book Award and was adapted into a 2018 film.

Danforth, who grew up in Montana but lives on the East Coast, said she has been following the Idaho law among other censorship efforts across the country and says it is one of the most “draconian” state laws she has seen.

Her publisher, HarperCollins, joined a lawsuit this month along with other publishers, parents and the Donnelly Public Library challenging the law.

Danforth said when her book has been banned, it’s almost always because it is about a gay protagonist, even if the complaint tries to hide behind vague labels like “obscene” or “pornographic.”

She said attempting to sum up a nearly 500-page novel with a few pages of quotes out of context misunderstands how meaning is conveyed in literature. It’s not how English teachers have their students approach reading.

“To reduce the book to a list of scenes or moments you might find objectionable is such a shameful reduction of what it is to read a novel,” Danforth said. “A list of objections about a book is not a novel.”

She said it is also dismissive of teenagers’ intellect. When she was a teenager, she sometimes read books she struggled with or didn’t like, but that’s part of growing up, she said.

Danforth often hears from teens, especially from small towns, who identified with the book, and it helped them confront their fear about coming out or their uncertainty about their identity.

The Bible

A request dated Oct. 11, asked that the Bible, specifically any version with Genesis 19, be removed.

Library Director Martin Walters said in an email that the request was neither denied nor approved because it failed to meet the requirement to “use one form per item.”

Under author, the form listed “King James or other.”

The King James Version is available in large print at Post Falls Library and as an audiobook from Hayden Library.

Genesis 19 recounts the story of Lot fleeing Sodom and Gomorrah with his family. It includes Lot offering his daughters to be raped by a mob, and depictions of drug-rape and incest.

The request form quotes several verses from the chapter, including Genesis 19:31-32:

“One day the older daughter said to the younger, ‘Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children – as is the custom all over the earth. Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father.’”

The chapter goes on to describe the daughters carrying out those actions.

The quotes match the New International Version rather than King James. Large print editions are available at Athol and Pinehurst libraries.

“I would feel comfortable with my own children reading and understanding what is described in the section of ‘Lot and His Daughters’ but what about other children?” the requester writes. “I think this type of story shouldn’t be read without the company of a pastor or parent to provide context.”

The request continues: “What if a child reads these passages and decides to experiment on their father or another adult? Morally speaking, the acts described in these passages of Genesis do not reflect our community values and have great potential to harm the unaccompanied minors who could encounter them.”

Library board members said via emails they do not believe the Bible belongs in the mature content collection.

“The Bible mentions some mature topics, including why and how they are harmful. It does not include any graphic descriptions that appeal to the prurient interests of minors and does not meet the legal definition of harmful to minors,” Rachelle Ottosen, chair of the board, wrote in an email.

“The Bible is located in the adult, non-fiction area of the library,” Vice Chair Tom Hanley wrote. “The contents are not presented in a salacious manner. This ‘classic’ is a history of the Jewish people. It instructionally teaches right from wrong.”

James Hanlon’s story has been republished from The Spokesman-Review under a Creative Commons license.