POCATELLO - A law set to take effect in February limiting the amount of lead contained within children's products has librarians concerned it could require prohibitively expensive testing or even discarding of children's books and other educational materials.

The new provisions have raised such concerns among various sectors that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission voted late Friday afternoon to issue a one-year stay of enforcement for certain testing and certification requirements on regulated products.

Provisions in the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act were to take effect on Feb. 10, involving products intended primarily for use by children 12 and under. It would have required testing and certification to ensure that lead not exceed 600 parts per million in paint and surface coating, with the limit decreasing to 300 PPM on Aug. 14.

In a press release, the CPSC said the stay was issued to give the agency more time to finalize proposed rules that could ultimately relieve certain materials and products from lead testing and to issue more guidance on when testing is required and how it is to be conducted.

"I do understand the commission has been flooded with phone calls from librarians asking what's going on and how can we face the two apparent choices - either remove all our children's books or don't let kids come into our libraries," said State Librarian Ann Joslin. "Needless to say, neither one of those is very reasonable."

Joslin said testing was performed on several books by the American Library Association to see if a problem existed.

"The lead levels came out to be way, way below the (prohibited) levels," she said. "The other thing they mentioned was the tests are expensive, and so most libraries wouldn't be able to afford it."

There would also be a question as to which portions of collections would need to be tested.

"The whole thing just does not seem very workable," she said.

Joslin noted that books may not be the only concern.

"If you go into an elementary school library or the children's section of a public library, they have more than books there. There are stuffed animals, there are posters, there are sometimes toys," she said. "Presumably this legislation would cover those items, as well."

Marshall Public Library Director Mike Doellman noted his children's department has both books and toys. He doesn't believe either pose a threat.

"I would venture to guess our books here are lead-free," Doellman said.

"We have a number of toys down there and the children love them. I would put the chance of you finding (lead) approaching zero."

Doellman agrees with the necessity of removing lead from children's products but believes the scope of the act overreaches.

"(I think) that the CPSC didn't realize what the rule was going to do," he said. "I doubt that they're going to say that we have to close every children's department in the United States."

The ALA has requested that libraries be exempt from provisions of the act. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has responded by placing a hold on the children's books portion of the requirement pending further study.

In a letter sent Monday to the CPSC, the ALA noted that the act specifically identifies manufacturers, importers and retailers. The ALA argued that libraries neither produce nor distribute books in commerce as specified in the act, and should therefore be exempt.

The letter also asks the commission to make a regulatory determination that books do not contain lead levels in excess of the new standards, citing documentation indicating levels to be significantly below even the 100 PPM level established by the CPSC for compliance in three years.

Doellman is optimistic the issue will be ironed out satisfactorily.

"For the time being, all I'm going to do is sit loose," he said.