A federal act that was passed in August 2008 to protect children against the dangers of lead based toys could end up costing Brown County libraries an enormous amount of money. The act, officially titled the Consumer Product Safety Act, was designed to outlaw lead materials from being present in any products meant for children under 12, and includes items such as toys, clothes, and books.
According to Lynn Hardin, director of the Brown County Public Library system, the law was not intended to affect libraries as well, but the wording in the act is vague enough to include books in the list of products that need to be tested. Many older books, especially those from before 1985, used lead in the lettering of the books.
The federal government gave the libraries a 12 month reprieve from having their books tested while they determine whether the books will need to be checked or not. According to Hardin, each book will cost approximately $300 to $600 to be tested for the presence of lead.
"Who is going to pay $300 to $600 to have a $15 book tested?" Hardin said.
Allison Gibson, director of the Union Township Public Library system, is also keeping a close eye on the issue. Gibson said the issue came as a surprise, and she is hoping that books will not be affected.
"I understand the concern with kids and lead after the cases that were showing up last year with toys from China," Gibson said. "But if it comes to be that we can't let kids touch a book, I don't know what we're going to do."
Hardin said that if congress finds that all the books will need to be tested, it would be cheaper for the Brown County Public Library system to throw out all of their old books and purchase new ones that are guaranteed to be free of lead. The Brown County Public Library System has approximately 50,000 children's books across five libraries. The Union Township Public Library system has approximately 22,500 children's books.
Gibson said that lead in books has never really been a problem in the past for the library. However, certain books, like those that come with toys or bracelets or are made out of plastic so they can be taken into the bathtub, have a greater chance of containing lead or a plastic softening chemical that was also outlawed by the act. Gibson said that the library never carried the books on hand anyway, since there was no real way to put a bar code on a toy to demand it back and because labels would not stick on plastic books as well.
"It really depends on how they classify the books that need checked," Gibson said. "If it's pre-1985, it wouldn't be so bad. Most of our selection is post 1985."
"There's never really been a problem with books that have lead in them," Hardin said. "In most children's libraries you don't have books from 10 years ago."
Both of the hospital systems are keeping a close eye on the situation. The 12 month reprieve will be over in February 2009.
"We're going to sit and watch the conversation with the powers that be and whatever they find we'll go by because we don't want to put the public at any further risk," Hardin said.
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