From Casey Whalen's substack:
"In April 2024, the Idaho Legislature passed House Bill 710 establishing §18-1517B, referred to as the Children's School and Library Protection Act. The Act provides a private cause of action for any parent or legal guardian of a minor to sue the library if the minor obtains material from the library that the minor, parent, or legal guardian considers to be "material harmful to minors." In addition, the Act allows the Idaho Attorney General or county prosecuting attorneys to sue libraries if they make available "material harmful to minors."
The Children's School and Library Protection Act requires libraries to restrict access to materials based on a single person's complaint.
The Boise Library Board of Trustees (BoT) has received four requests to review books under a new policy called, reconsideration of materials, policy 5.02. The first book recommended for removal to the BoT in July 2024, the Holy Bible: New Living Translation, authored by God and submitted by a fake name, Bradley Little-Dick. The reasons stated in the request cited children were being exposed to incest, rape, homosexuality, and other perverted sex acts, also listing specific references.
This book was not reviewed by the board as the title didn't exist in the current library catalog.
A second book in kind recommended for removal was titled The Children's Illustrated Bible by Selina Hastings, submitted on October 2024 by Steven Alan Shapiro, a full-time system administrator at the Idaho Youth Ranch, a non-profit 501(c)3, in Boise, Idaho. As a side note, Mr. Shapiro also worked for the Aids Foundation in the 90’s.
Shapiro requested the removal of this book from the non-fiction children's section claiming it was a myth, fictional storytelling, and religious indoctrination, also listing various page numbers stating the book promoted attempted adultery, rape, polygamy, pre-marital sex, and slavery.
Read the full request to remove this book - https://www.boisepubliclibrary.org/media/rpnnq312/2024-10-24-form-bk-childrens-illustrated-bible.pdf
The Boise Library Board of Trustees unanimously voted in favor of keeping the book in the children's section.
STAY VIGILANT - Please share this information to draw awareness to this tactic, likely to be repeated across the State of Idaho.
