There are a few books I remember from my childhood.  Trixie Belden.  Judy Blume.  Encyclopedia Brown.  Mrs. Piggle Wiggle.  The boxcar children.  Little House on the Prairie.  Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.  Anne of Green Gables.  All those memories.  Leaving my life and enjoying theirs.  All those memories came from the library.  Hours and hours.

Many of you have already heard about CPSCIA.  You can read more about the act at the link, but the basic synopsis is – many if not most handmade children’s retailers, and thrift/secondhand retail shops will close.  The act requires testing for lead.  Of every.single.item used in a product, by each retailer, in every form of the item.  Even if someone else, already has tested from the batch.  Even if another retailer has already tested the item.  So – these retailers and small homemade manufactures will have to close their doors because they simply can’t afford the testing.  Think about it.  If you sell a onesie for $10, but it costs hundreds of dollars to test that version, how many do you need to sell to break even merely on the testing?  Not too mention the manufacturing costs.  Now multiply that by the various versions and sizes.  It just doesn’t work.

What I didn’t realize is this, as of now, also applies to paper materials.  As in books.  As in libraries.

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.

This comes from the American Library Association.

Do you remember seeing any reports of lead poisoning of children and babies from their clothing?  From the books they read.

Come February 10th – unless the laws change, you’ll now be required to go to the stores that can afford the testing.  And you’ll be buying all your children’s books new.  Forget the mom you buy bibs from.  Forget library days at school.

Welcome to our Brave New World.