Sometimes it isn’t until after federal policies go into effect that lawmakers realize there are unintended effects to the policy. This January a law hoping to help child safety had big rammifications for the nation’s libraries.
A law passed by congress calling for the recall of children’s items which have trace amounts of lead in them had included books printed prior to 1985. Nobody realized by definition this would include children’s books at the library.
Soon Congressman Maxman the chair of commerce rallied the Obama administration to give one year for a commision to determine if the policy related to books should be changed.
“We’re not pulling anything off our shelves yet says Los Angeles county librarian Margaret Todd. Todd wants policy makers to be realistic in what actually is going to be most beneficial.
Policymakers have one year to answer that question.