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Alaska Bill Would Give Parents Access to Children’s Library RecordsA bill before the Alaska State Senate would require public libraries to give parents access to their children’s records upon request. Sen. Lyda Green (R-Wasilla) told the February 24 Anchorage Daily News she introduced the legislation after a constituent told her about receiving a call from the library to say a book her 8-year-old son had put on hold was available, but that privacy laws prevented them from saying which title it was. The newspaper noted that the legislation, Senate Bill 269, is on the fast track, having cleared two committees since its introduction January 16; one of those bodies, the Senate Health, Education, and Social Services Committee, advanced it February 23 after a 15-minute hearing with no debate. A Senate floor vote is expected soon. Lynn Shepherd, chair of the Alaska Library Association’s Government Relations Committee, said the group would like to see amendments to the measure that would allow library records to be released to parents if a child’s books are overdue but require children’s written permission for parents to see other records or pick up books for them. “We recognize there needs to be a balance of parents’ rights, children’s rights, library staff rights, and the protection of public property,” Shepherd said in a February 23 Associated Press report. Posted February 27, 2004. |
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