KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A new Missouri rule impacting the authority and autonomy of public libraries began Tuesday.
The policy comes from the Missouri Secretary of State and it bans libraries from buying certain materials and adds new parental requirements.
A big concern is the policy requires libraries to have policies in place that could let parents decide what should be on shelves for children.
Many libraries, including the Kansas City Public Library, worry some parents could step in and limit what other kids can and can't read.
“That’s part of the issue for me and these rules is the vague implication of what are they saying is inappropriate, what are they saying is inappropriate for children, what do they mean by that?” said Crystal Faris, deputy director for Youth and Family Engagement at the KC Public Library.
Parent involvement and the vagueness around what makes something inappropriate or removable is a big issue.
Faris says the rules also prevent libraries from buying obscene or pornographic material and tells librarians to develop procedures for complaints to be made about books.
Joel Jones, deputy director of Library Services at the Kansas City Public Library, says they already comply with both rules.
“We have really good collection development policies here at the Kansas City Public Library" Jones said. "They’ve been in place for decades, they depend on the experience and the knowledge of our collection development librarians. I’d say they’re some of the best in the country."
The rules are tied to state funding and if libraries don't comply, they could have their funds cut.
That won't impact big libraries like Kansas City, but it will impact smaller libraries which are more dependent on state dollars.
Faris and Jones believe it could lead to libraries preemptively removing books parents may take issue with to avoid the perception of wrongdoing even if no complaints have been filed.
They say it puts libraries in an undesirable position.
“Our belief is that what a child reads and watches is between a child and the parent and not the child and the library." Jones said. "The library shouldn’t be put in the position to say that a child can’t check this out. That should be left up to the parent," Jones said.
