By Lisa Fary
I ate many strange things as a little girl. Grass. Notebook paper. Lima beans. There was even the obligatory, childhood penny-swallowing incident. Despite my gastronomical curiosity, I never looked at a book and thought, “Mmmmm, I wonder what that tastes like.”
It never once occurred to me to rip out a book page and eat it. Or to gnaw on the cover. Or to lick the pages. Mom made clear to me that books were fun, but were not toys and should not be treated like toys. That included putting them carefully back on the shelf after reading and not putting them in my mouth.
Apparently, America’s children haven’t been taught the lessons about books that my mom taught me (namely, don’t eat books). Or, at least, Congress thinks this is the case.
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. You’ve probably heard of this. The CPSIA was drawn up in reaction to the Chinese Lead Paint Fright-O-Rama of 2007, but like most laws passed by Congress, it’s having some unexpected repercussions, the most horrifying of which is that we’re about to lose every children’s book printed before 1985.
Under the new law, children’s books published before 1985 are considered unsafe and, a year from now, will be illegal to sell, give away, or otherwise distribute. This includes used book stores, thrift stores, and sadly, public libraries.
We’re talking about millions of books that will destroyed or kept from the hands of readers. Many of them are, presumably, no longer in print and, once out of circulation, will be gone for good.
Then there’s the damage this is going to do to our already troubled public libraries. A part-time librarian in rural Idaho looked critically this and found that her library will have to either get rid of 75% or their children’s section or ban kids from entering the children’s section.
This is nothing short of institutionalized book burning, except now the perceived threat isn’t the ideas in the pages, but the pages themselves. This isn’t going to protect children; all it’s going to do is block access to books in all but the most affluent communities, furthering already widespread illiteracy and destroying libraries and small businesses in the process.
When I look at it that way, my conspiracy gears get all greased up and going.
Congress, for god’s sake, READ the bills on which you vote. Extrapolate the consequences of vague and ambiguous policies. That’s your job.
Parents, teach your kids not to eat books, whether they were printed before or after 1985. And pay attention to what you’re buying. That’s your job.
All this when the real solution is to stop buying cheap crap made in China.
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Lisa Fary’s early exposure to classic Battlestar Galactica in 1979 is largely responsible for her lifelong interest in science fiction and her childhood ambition of being an intergalactic space cowgirl. She thinks diagramming sentences is a fun alternative to Sudoku.
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Lisa Fary's earliest influences are Princess Leia, Rainbow Bright, Astronaut Barbie, and her 6th grade teacher, Ms. Palmer. She's angry that it's 2011 and she still doesn't have a hovercraft, but will accept a jetpack as consolation. That jetpack had better be pink with a rhinestone monogram. 
Does this mean I could be penalized for giving my 10 year old niece my 1962 copy of Farmer Boy?
Which book should I start memorizing first?
Regards,
Sylvia
This is just appalling. There have to be advocacy groups who could mobilize on this, right? The American Library Association or any one of the literacy organizations? I mean, there are children's books that have been in my family for three or four generations. Is Congress really saying that my sixty-something mom could go to jail for passing them on to her grandkids, nieces, and nephews? That the library where I work could be fined for allowing kids to look at our nineteenth century picture books? Not only do many of these books contain entertaining stories, but the books themselves are an important part of our societal history. Where's Ray Bradbury when we need him?
Needless to say, ALA is not happy about the wording of the CPSI Act. The law seems to have been a poorly worded kneejerk reaction to real problems that is unfortunately encompassing a whole lot of other things if read literally. "Collectibles" may end up being the loophole to all.
ALA's summary and analysis is located here:
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/wo/woissu…
Thanks, Barb. Leave it to librarians to provide information and present their arguments in such a calm, erudite way.
Please let us know if there's any sort of support we can offer.
Pardon me a moment, but WTF?!?!?!?!!? This is ridiculous!!!
Please tell me there's a movement, a group, something we can join to stop this. Is there something I can sign, someone I can email to help stop this? I know I'll be writing my Congressmen. You should to (link below) to tell them your thoughts on this. Please let me know if there's another movement you hear of that's working against this. Thank you.
For Representatives: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
For Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information…
Yup. I think that would make you book pusher.
Noooooo!
I LOVE collecting old books. I have a stash of knockoff Nancy Drew mysteries, Sci-Fi/Horror anthologies, and picture books.
If they're gonna do this, can they at least republish some stuff? Or how about put it on the net? This is ruining my collector hobby. >:(
I agree with you %100! Congress, do your damn job. Parents, do your job! And for Gods sake Everybody! quit buying cheap crap from China!!!
you have to be f-ing kidding me….I think the tempatures are rising to Farenheit 451…ugh