[CALIBK12] CPSIA - call or write today!

[Connie Williams]

Hello Calib folks,
According to the update posted below from the American Library  
Association, it appears that libraries are still at risk of being  
caught up in the lead testing requirements of the new Consumer Product  
Safety Act.  They suggest that it is time to contact your  
Congressional Representative (not your state legislators) and the  
Consumer Products Safety Commission to inform them of the devastating  
impact this could have on library services for children and ask them  
to help ensure libraries are exempted.

To help you understand the issues, see:
-- letter from the Association of American Publishers to the Consumer  
Product Safety Commission athttp://www.rrd.com/wwwCPSIA/Docs/LetterToTheCPSC.pdf

-- news release from the American Library Association below.

-- official information about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement  
Act (CPSIA) http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html

-- sample text for a letter below. Please feel free to use the sample  
language but personalize it to make your comments known and your  
letter unique.  Studies have shown that individual letters are  
significantly more effective than form letters, so let’s make sure  
they understand how important their action will be.

-- contact the CPSA via their site, http://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/newleg.aspx 
    Explain to the Commission that it is simply impossible for  
libraries to remove all children’s books from the shelves and/or ban  
children under 12 from the library and still provide the level of  
service that is needed. Your comments to the CPSC need to be submitted  
as soon as possible, so please tell all your friends and family – we  
need as many people as possible to communicate that this oversight  
could have lasting ramifications on our children and our communities.  

-- you can ask a question about the CPSIA at http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html 
  
--------------------------------------------------------From posting  
at  http://www.ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/news/pressreleases2009/january2009/wocpsc.cfm

Contact: Jenni Terry
ALA Washington Office
202-628-8410

NEWS
For Immediate Release
January 26, 2009

ALA Files Comments, Urges CPSC To Exempt Libraries from Regulation  
Under Consumer Product Safety Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Library Association (ALA) today filed  
comments with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), urging  
the commission to issue notification confirming that the new lead  
limits under the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSIA) do not apply to  
library books and related materials.

Under the CPSIA, which was passed by Congress in August, children’s  
products are required to undergo stringent testing for lead and  
phthalates. Currently, the General Counsel of the CPSC  is  
interpreting the law  to  apply to ordinary, paper-based books for  
children  12  years of age or younger, so that all such books and  
product would have to be tested for lead content.  Therefore, public,  
school, academic and museum libraries would be required either to  
remove all their children’s books or ban all children under 12 from  
visiting the facilities as of February 10.

The ALA’s comments explain that the new CPSIA standards applicable to  
children’s products should not apply to library books on library  
shelves prior to February 10.  Since a library’s books are neither  
“produced” nor “distributed” by the library, the law should not apply  
to library books.  At this point, however, the CPSC has indicated that  
the law will apply to libraries.

Additionally, the ALA’s comments reaffirm the comprehensive  
evidentiary support the publishing community has supplied the  
Commission that children’s books do not present any of the health or  
safety risks to children that the law aims to address. This evidence  
provides an ample basis for CPSC to exercise its regulatory authority  
to determine that books inherently satisfy the new lead standards.

Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the ALA Washington Office, said  
it is critical the CPSC take these comments into consideration.

“If the commission does not correct their ruling to include library  
books under the regulation of the Consumer Product Safety Act,  
communities and schools across the country are going to be shocked and  
outraged on February 10,” Sheketoff said.

“While we understand the process the CPSC must carry out in order to  
ensure this law is properly enforced and that the safety of our  
nation’s children is protected, we believe the commission is wasting  
time and resources by zeroing in on books.

---------------------------------------
SAMPLE TEXT:
Dear General Counsel Falvey:
It has come to my attention that the Consumer Product Safety  
Improvement Act of 2008 has been interpreted to include books as a  
product that must be tested for lead.  While I can understand the need  
to protect children from toxic materials, publishers have already  
tested the book components and found that the lead levels are lower  
than the regulations require three years from now.  Additionally, all  
book recalls in the last two decades have been because of toys  
attached to the books that posed a choking hazard, not the books  
themselves.
Making these testing regulations retroactive would require both school  
and public libraries to take drastic steps to come into compliance.   
They would either they would have to ban children from their libraries  
or pull every book intended for children under the age of 12 from  
their bookshelves at the time children are fostering a lifelong love  
of learning and reading.
In order to allow children and families to continue accessing critical  
library materials, please either exempt books from the Consumer  
Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, accept the component tests  
that have already been done, or exempt all books currently in school  
and public libraries.  This will ensure that our children continue to  
have access to safe and educational library materials.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME





Connie  Williams
President
California School Library Assn
CSLA 2.0 Team

chwms at mac.com


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