When it comes to lead poisoning, most parents probably prefer to be safe vs. sorry. But even the most cautious among us may think that keeping some children's books from our kids is taking things a little too far. 
In the wake of that recent federal law that bans any children's product containing trace elements of lead, a couple of libraries freaked out earlier this month and restricted access to children's books published prior to 1986. Why? Because before regulations began to take effect that year, small amounts of lead still could be found in printing ink. Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the American Library Association, told the Associated Press that one library roped off its children's section and another -- no joke -- covered some of its kids' books with a tarp. After the ALA contacted the libraries, which Sheketoff did not identify, they took their respective rope and tarp down. After all, reading is fundamental, even if it is deadly.
In all seriousness, there is no solid proof that books published prior to 1986 are in fact harmful to children. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has said its staff is "investigating" to make sure the ink does not pose any risk. But a specialist also said in the same AP story that it's unlikely all those old picture books and young adult novels are truly dangerous.
In an op-ed piece, the Wall Street Journal placed the blame for all this confusion on Congress and, more specifically, Nancy Pelosi. From my perspective, it seems like this issue could have been resolved a long time ago. Like, say, in 1987. Once we realized there was some lead in that ink, why didn't the CPSC or some other organization investigate and make absolutely sure our children could read those books in good health? We've only known about this for two-plus decades, right?
From my perspective, that's why legislation like the ban just passed by Congress is so necessary. Until a stringent law is put in place, all of us get too complacent about these things. We throw a tarp over the problem, so to speak, and just pray it will go away.
That said, I suspect and hope that this really is a non-issue. Because even if the libraries toss every book published before U2 released "The Joshua Tree," plenty of Americans own copies of these older books. And I'd hate to think that those cherished versions of "Corduroy" and "Good Night, Moon" that we read to our kids every night are actually causing them harm.
Image: Waaytv.com
