Saturday, July 1, 2023, will be a sad day at the Barry-Lawrence Regional Library system.

On this day, all library cardholders ages 6-17 will expire due to new State of Missouri regulations.

Public libraries fall under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of State’s office and new regulations have been handed down from Secretary John “Jay” Ashcroft.

As usual with regulations from the state, money is being used to ensure that libraries comply. If public libraries do not comply, they cannot receive state funds.

I am not sure why these regulations were put in place because public libraries were already following them.

As long as I have used a public library, parents/guardians were the ones responsible for their minor children obtaining a library card.

I was ecstatic when at age six I was eligible for a library card. But, I was not able to walk into the library, state my age and have the librarian give me a card.

My mother had to be with me. My mother filled out the paperwork, signed the necessary documents, and suddenly, I was able to check out whatever I wanted, provided my mother approved.

This is still true today. The only difference now is that parents/ guardians agree to this in writing.

My parents were responsible for monitoring my use of library materials. My husband and I were responsible for monitoring our daughter’s use of library materials.

Now, parents/guardians must agree in writing that they will monitor their children’s use of library materials.

There has always been a chance that something might be viewed or checked out in the public library that may not be appropriate for some children. Now parents/guardians must sign that they understand that this could happen.

The best way for our library system to make sure that parents/ guardians sign that they agree to the new regulations is to expire their child’s card. Parents or guardians will have to visit the library, fill out a new application for each of their minor children and sign that they agree with five statements.

Only then will the child’s card be reinstated. This is an undue burden for parents/guardians, as well as library staff.

These new regulations are supposed to protect children from age inappropriate materials. They are supposed to provide transparency and allow parents/guardians to limit their children’s access to materials.

The Barry-Lawrence Regional Library system already does that. There are designated areas for different age groups. All library policies are available for public access on the library’s website.

It has always been the parents/ guardians decision on what minors can access. Parents/ guardians have always had the opportunity to request reconsideration of materials that are available to minors.

These regulations do not ban materials. They ban children.

Cheryl Williams is the branch supervisor of the Cassville Branch Library. She may be reached at cheryl@blrlibrary.com.