Thursday, March 26, 2009

Legislation Proposal May Protect Children's Books

ALA Supports Amendment to Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act

Concern continues to mount regarding the 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act's (CPSIA) potential to remove books from children's hands.

To prevent such a drastic result, Nebraska Congressman Jeff Fortenberry recently introduced a bill that would amend the CPSIA by exempting books from the lead regulation. Fortenberry’s bill, H.R. 1692, officially states that CPSIA was not intended to apply to ordinary books – those books that are published on paper or cardboard, printed by conventional publishing methods, intended to be read, and lacking inherent play value. H.R. 1692 also states that testing has shown that finished books and their component materials contain total lead content at levels considered non-detectable, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has determined that there is little risk to children from lead in ordinary books.

The American Library Association (ALA) issued a press release supporting the legislation. ALA President Jim Rettig stated about the bill, “We are grateful for this bill since it supports what the ALA, libraries, teachers and parents know to be true – books are safe and should not be regulated by this law.”

You can read more information on the ALA's website.

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