BS: US Fed Wants Ban on Children's Books

Subject: RE: BS: US Fed Wants Ban on Children's Books
From: Bobert
Date: 19 Mar 09 - 08:51 AM

Next thing ya' know, Rap, is that you'll be off to join up with Osama...

(Jus' funnin'...)

B;~)

Subject: RE: BS: US Fed Wants Ban on Children's Books
From: Rapparee
Date: 19 Mar 09 - 08:31 AM

The CPSC has testimony and EVIDENCE for the Association of American Publishers that ink becomes part of the "substrate" (or sinks into the paper) AND that the amount of lead in books is less than 3 parts per billion (far, far below the CPSIA level) AND that this has been true for well over a hundred years (and I'm not about to let a child play with, say, a first edition of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" or "Tom Sawyer").

They've chosen to ignore it.

Subject: RE: BS: US Fed Wants Ban on Children's Books
From: Bobert
Date: 19 Mar 09 - 07:57 AM

All yhey need to do is put a stick on label on the older books that reads, "Do not eat this book"...

That oughtta do it...

B;~)

Subject: RE: BS: US Fed Wants Ban on Children's Books
From: Jack Campin
Date: 19 Mar 09 - 07:22 AM

There is one book most kids in the US will be forced to handle many times in their childhood and which contains far more than the average density of black ink print.

The Bible.

Ban it NOW.

Subject: RE: BS: US Fed Wants Ban on Children's Books
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 19 Mar 09 - 05:25 AM

The original post was a bit tongue-in-cheek, as the article did make clear that few libraries were paying much attention to the most recent (or to previous) press releases.

This is another case where Congress wrote another knee-jerk law, requiring a Federal agency to produce another set of redundant regulations to enforce it, where the "unintended consequences" make somebody look stupid.

The hazards of lead, especially for youngsters, have been pretty well documented, so we have to control the lead in children's books - but we can ignore the lead in coal-fired power/industrial emissions 'cause they're profitable. (Nobody ever accused a library of making a profit - that I've heard of.)

John

Subject: RE: BS: US Fed Wants Ban on Children's Books
From: Rapparee
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 11:09 PM

This is old news, at least six weeks old.

The CPSC has delayed any enforcement of this until further testing can be done. Moreover, the very sponsors of the original bill (CPSIA) have introduced legislation that would exempt libraries and books from the Act.

A goodly part of the problem is that the CPSC delayed until December, 2008, before releasing any regulations. AND the bill was originally intended for thrift stores, second-hand stores, etc. -- not libraries.

Subject: RE: BS: US Fed Wants Ban on Children's Books
From: Rowan
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 10:31 PM

I've heard the phrase "Read, mark, and inwardly digest" applied to learning but I never thought it was meant so literally as to include "ingest".

The recommendation that Until the testing is done, the nation's more than 116,000 public and school libraries "should take steps to ensure that the children aren't accessing those books," Wolfson said. "Steps can be taken to put them in an area on hold until the Consumer Product Safety Commission can give further guidance." gives safety recalls (particularly) and OH&S generally a bad name. Especially if they have not done any objective surveys on how many children have, literally, sucked their books to extract all meaning and can back their recommendation with proper statistics.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: US Fed Wants Ban on Children's Books
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 04:42 PM

I doubt that the libraries in my city have anything older than the 1990s. Older material, and items with few checkouts, are routinely put on sales tables or recycled.

Subject: RE: BS: US Fed Wants Ban on Children's Books
From: Art Thieme
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 02:29 PM

I do suspect that any book by Bush, Cheney, other corporate thieves /and/or fascists) or their cohorts has more than enough lead and should be judged unsafe for readers use as well!

Art

Subject: RE: BS: US Fed Wants Ban on Children's Books
From: katlaughing
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 02:11 PM

"Frankly, most of our books have been well-used and well-appreciated," said Rhoda Goldberg, director of the Harris County Public Library system in Houston. "They don't last 24 years."

Also, the lead is contained only in the type, not in the illustrations, according to Allan Adler, vice president for legal and governmental affairs for the Association of American Publishers.

This seems like a non-issue unless someone is letting their baby teethe on the books.

Maybe I should make up a bumper sticker that says, "My children and grandchildren survived my home library!"

Subject: RE: BS: US Fed Wants Ban on Children's Books
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 02:09 PM

What you exclaimed John in Kansas.
JotSC

Subject: RE: BS: US Fed Wants Ban on Children's Books
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 01:28 PM

Adds a whole new meaning to:
"Isn't that book a bit old for you?"

Subject: RE: BS: US Fed Wants Ban on Children's Books
From: Wesley S
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 01:26 PM

That's not what I would call a "ban" on childrens books. A safety recall maybe - but they're not banning the books for content. There's a big difference.

Subject: RE: BS: US Fed Wants Ban on Children's Books
From: greg stephens
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 01:19 PM

100% of children reading books pre-1900 have since died. Makes you think, doesn't it? May well be something in this "lead in ink" theory.

Subject: RE: BS: US Fed Wants Ban on Children's Books
From: Donuel
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 12:46 PM

The lead in DC shool drinking fountains is a dozen times higher than code.

They say its getting better but god knows what that really means.

Subject: BS: US Fed Wants Ban on Children's Books
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 18 Mar 09 - 12:40 PM

Group wants vintage kids books off the shelves

Consumer Product Safety Commission worries tomes may contain lead

The Associated Press
updated 2:35 p.m. CT, Tues., March. 17, 2009

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Could a vintage, dog-eared copy of "The Cat in the Hat" or "Where the Wild Things Are" be hazardous to your children?

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has raised that possibility in urging the nation's libraries to take children's books printed before 1986 off their shelves while the federal agency investigates whether the ink contains unsafe levels of lead.

... ...

A federal law passed last summer and effective Feb. 10 bans lead beyond minute levels in most products intended for children 12 or younger. It was passed after a string of toy recalls. The CPSC is interpreting the law to include books.

CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson said libraries can safely lend any children's book printed in 1986 or later, by which time a growing body of regulations had removed lead from printer's ink. But the commission still must study the lead content in books printed before 1986. The CPSC delayed until next year the lead testing required as part of the law.

Until the testing is done, the nation's more than 116,000 public and school libraries "should take steps to ensure that the children aren't accessing those books," Wolfson said. "Steps can be taken to put them in an area on hold until the Consumer Product Safety Commission can give further guidance."

[End Quote]

Paraphrasing both the CDC and results of Publishers Org tests (see the link):

"B*LLSH*T"

Anyone else have a comment?

John