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Board approves policy limiting minors' access to obscene materials, asks for consistent guardianship language
Summary
The library board approved a state-recommended policy defining obscene materials and clarifying that parents, guardians or adult caregivers are responsible for minors' access; members asked staff to standardize language and consider a parental-permission note on patron accounts.
The Dell Rapids Library Board approved a new policy restricting minors' access to obscene materials and asked staff to make the document's language consistent regarding parents, guardians and adult caregivers.
The chair said she appreciated that the policy gives a definition of obscene materials and explicitly notes that library staff are not responsible for parental decisions. One board member asked whether parents could set limits on a child's library card and suggested a signed permission form; the director replied some libraries keep a signed form or a notation in the patron account: "We do have a space in within each patron's account where we can put this note ... and we date it for when that conversation happened," the director said. The director described the policy as a state-library recommendation that many area libraries have adopted.
A motion to approve the policy subject to consistent wording (parents/guardians/adult caregivers) passed by voice vote. The director said she could implement the language change and return the updated document if the board preferred, or note the requested edit and proceed with approval immediately.
