Legislators and others to rally on day Idaho’s new library law goes into effect

POCATELLO — A group that includes some state lawmakers from southeast Idaho is planning to rally at a Pocatello library to show their support for librarians.

Sen. James Ruchti and Rep. Nate Roberts, both D-Pocatello, and Mary Shay, a candidate for House seat 29A, will be joining with other concerned citizens in front of the Marshall Public Library on Monday to protest legislation that creates a new process for restricting library materials. This will be the first day it goes into effect.

“It seeks to address a problem that doesn’t exist,” Ruchti said. “This bill gives power to the prudest person in our community and allows that person to set the standard for what books can be on the shelves in the library.”

People will gather outside the library at 113 South Garfield Avenue for a Day of Action Against House Bill 710 at 5 p.m. At the rally, Ruchti, Roberts and Shay will make some remarks about the law, which they call the “library bounty bill.”

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This law allows people to submit a written request to have an item at the library relocated to an “adults only” or a “restricted” section. If the library doesn’t comply with the request within 60 days, the person who made the request could sue. This is separate from the already existing reconsideration process in place for libraries.

“(The legislation) invites people that cause a lot of mischief for political gain to get attention,” Shay said. “All of that ultimately is going to be on the backs of our city taxpayers and our county taxpayers for public libraries. We’re the ones who are going to have to pay for this nonsense.”

Ruchti sees the legislation opening the door for censorship of public libraries.

“It makes no sense that we would give the power to one individual in the community to set those standards. That’s not the way communities work,” Ruchti said.

Although the rally will be held outside the building, the Marshall Public Library hasn’t taken a stance on the legislation, beyond the fact that library officials said it will be in full compliance with it. The rally is organized by the Idaho Democratic Party.

“We are not speaking for the libraries or the librarians — we are just supporting them,” Shay said. She, Ruchti and Roberts have met with librarians to get a better understanding of their perspectives, as well as help them understand what the legislation was requiring of them.

“These are really hardworking civil servants,” Shay said. “They provide a lot of services that a lot of us don’t even think about. We just think about going and checking out books, and they do so much more for our communities.”

Both Ruchti and Shay say the reason the controversy about libraries has been pushed is because it’s become a culture war issue.

“It’s a sad day for Idaho that we’re giving into the extreme right and their desire to push these culture war issues on us,” Ruchti said.