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Idaho Sheriff Won’t Return Library Books He Thinks Are Obscene.
Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris said he was “shocked” and “disturbed” at some of the books available to youths at local libraries, and he’s been hanging on to copies that he’d rather pay to keep than give back. Two books in particular — “Deal with It! A Whole New Approach to Your Body, Brain, and Life as a gURL” by Esther Drill, Heather McDonald and Rebecca Odes, and “Identical” by Ellen Hopkins — should be in an adult section, Norris said. “It has nothing to do with banning books,” he said. “It has nothing to do with restricting books.” Debates about whether certain books should be banned from libraries have raged in recent months across the country, including in Idaho and Eastern Washington. Cassie Robertson, communications coordinator at North Idaho’s Community Library Network, said the national debate has made life difficult for library officials.
“It’s difficult for our staff, it’s difficult for our patrons,” she said. “It has become the center of our board meetings, so it’s definitely been a challenge.” Driven by community members’ volatility surrounding the subject, Norris visited the Hayden and Post Falls libraries earlier this year. He said he documented his Hayden Library visit in April by wearing a body camera. “I have to say I was a little bit shocked (and) disturbed on what I found,” Norris said.
For example, at least one page of “Deal with It!” addresses “dry humping” and includes descriptive language about oral sex. Alexa Eccles, the director of Community Library Network, wrote in a statement that its libraries may have controversial materials, but “none are purposefully explicit, graphic, and obscene.”
The network serves eight libraries in Athol, Harrison, Hayden, Pinehurst, Post Falls, Rathdrum and Spirit Lake, as well as a mobile library. “Community Library Network seeks to purchase a wide range of materials for community members of all ages and make decisions based on the appropriateness of subjects and styles for the intended library users,” Eccles wrote. Robertson said the network has two copies of “Identical” and one copy of “Deal with It!”
She said the network classifies “Deal with It!” as young adult nonfiction (16 to 18 years old) and “Identical” as adult fiction (18 and older). A “child limited” minor library card, which the network made available in July, would prevent a child from checking out the books. Robertson wrote in an email that minors must have parent or legal guardian authorization to sign up for a library card. The parent or legal guardian is responsible for all content checked out
