CPSIA, Libraries, Testing...I'm so sick of this

A wonderful blog post from a part-time librarian about the costs of testing, even in light of the post-1985 ruling

Total library inventory: 34,668
Total est. juvenile inventory: 10, 601
Percentage of juvenile inventory: 31%

Estimate of inventory pre-1985: 75% or 7951 units

Now if we have to test pre-1985 inventory at $500/book: $3,975,375

please read her entire eloquent post - I just even more depressed now

Gee...another Friday another CPSIA PR piece

ok I admit it, I was busy having fun this weekend and didn't look around hard enough for the late breaking CPSIA news on Friday. Seems those fun guys over at CPSC have issued rules that

will not impose penalties on manufacturers, distributors or importers of children’s products made with natural products, some children’s books, and dyed or undyed textiles used for children’s apparel under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.

The CPSIA limits for lead and certain phthalate compounds in children’s products take effect Tuesday. Retailers must not sell items intended for children under 12 that contain more than 600 parts per million lead, or more than 0.1 percent phthalates.

Joseph Martyak, CPSC chief of staff, said Feb. 6 that the commission decided not to enforce on such products as wood and cotton that rarely contain lead. The commission is still drafting rules covering these items, but decided an enforcement stay was a common-sense approach.

However, the stay does not include articles made of leather, vinyl or polyvinylchloride (PVC), including zippers or metallic thread. The stay is limited to books published after 1985, since printing inks bearing lead were banned that year.

So do libraries have to remove all children's books published prior to 1985 or not? And since enforcement is really in the hands of the State AG's, there is nothing to stop them from going forth with prosecutions. AARRGGHHHHHHH!!!!!