What CPSIA looks like at your local bookstore

[Former_Member]

I own a used bookstore and the ruling by the CPSA regarding vintage books peeves me no end. I am currently storing my contraband books. But here's photos of what the removal looked like:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21881149@N06/3278972049/
No.... not Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day!!!
Banned because its a 1984 printing... and it has STAPLES. deadly, deadly staples.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21881149@N06/3279001289/
The big hole in one of the four bookcases. They all have similar gaps.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21881149@N06/3279001383/
The sign explaining why we're consigning books to the Memory Hole.

Total value of books removed from sale: roughly $2500.

Here's an blog post explaining exactly how and why CPSIA ends up affecting books. (and the whole staple issue)
http://bookshopblog.com/2009/02/14/cpsia-book-banning-in-the-guise-of-safety/

Want a copy of the Big Brother sign? You can download it here:
http://www.rainydaypaperback.com/home//1984.doc
(fits standard sized paper, two to a sheet)

The pictures above have a Creative Commons license attached. You may share them and redistribute as you like.

[Former_Member]

I thought that books before 1985 were considered collectors items not intended for children anyway so they could still be sold. It's up to the buyer to decide whether to give them to their kids or not (I choose yes!)

Your photos are just heartbreaking! I love all my old childrens books... :(

[Former_Member]

StarbrightBaby,
No where in the new CPSIA rules does it say that it would consider books prior to 1985 to be collector's items.
It says vintage or antique items that because of their rarity or value would no longer be considered for children, can be sold. There is a huge amount of vintage and even antique items that would not meet this description. Those items can no longer be sold.

[Former_Member]

Books Deserve Respect!

fenrislorsrai, I am terribly saddened to read your post and see your pictures posted on Flickr.

After reading countless forums and posts regarding CPSIA’s law to ban books prior to 1985, I am utterly disgusted and in dismay. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I have never heard of a child being poisoned or suffocated from lead or staples in a book. Books deserve more respect than to be tossed aside. A former elementary school teacher, books were the cornerstone of my everyday curriculum and as a mother of three today my children and I have come to value and respect “the book”.

Politicians and special interest groups, please explain to parents and teachers the exact dangers and risks these innocent books pose? Do you have scientific proof they are toxic? Do you have evidence to suggest that books have harmed a child? Do you plan on raising our taxes to replace the books that are being dumped? Did you realize the environmental impact the dumping of these books would pose? It is quite obvious the benefits of books OUTWEIGH any potential risks.

As a parent, I teach my children to respect all books whether we like what is inside them or not. We take great care of our books. We have a 2 year old in the house who does not yet understand that he cannot tear, rip, eat, chew or draw on his books whether they come from his own collection or the public library down the road. When I read to this little one, he sits in my lap supervised so that he might be trained how to turn the pages and how to best treat the book. He is not left alone to pull out staples and swallow them or to lick the lead laden pages. I would not hesitate to take any of these “so-called poisonous books” into my home for my children to enjoy because I know that I have trained them how to respect the book.

[Former_Member]

Ugh. So depressing, and senseless.

I have a (very small) shop on Amazon's Marketplace, and removed most of my children's books. (Thankfully I did not have anything of real value.)

I'm so sorry you're in this position.

[Former_Member]

Why 1984?

anyone read the book, 1984, by george orwell? very interesting......

[Former_Member]

And obviously p*ssed off at how senseless all of this is. (My 4 year-old tossed a train, which is probably loaded with leas and phalates, at my head when I was typing.)

[Former_Member]

Brave New World here we come. Only new things are good, out with the old...
I was just wondering about the used bookstores in my area the other day. I haven't visited them yet and I find this whole thing to be so negative. People had the idea to do something good and make things safer, but WOW did they go overboard.
By the way, I have in fact been injured by the aforementioned deadly staples as a child :) and yet I still exist to tell the tale...

[Former_Member]

Guidelines from the CPSC on vintage books:
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/smbus/sbguide.pdf
"Question 17: Can I sell vintage children’s books and other children’s products that are collectibles?

Yes. Used vintage children’s books and other children’s products sold as collector’s items would not be primarily intended for children. Because of their value and age, they would not be expected to be used by children. Therefore, they do not fall into the definition of children’s product and do not need to comply with
the lead limits."


Read that carefully and notice:
VALUE + AGE + NOT EXPECTED TO BE USED BY CHILDREN = VINTAGE

Most pre-1985 books are not that valuable, they aren't really that old, and they are expected to be used by children.

Consider also CPSC Commissioner Thomas Moore's letter to Congress (Moore is the Commissioner that Congress does NOT want to fire, and he's not on 'our' side):
http://www.cpsc.gov/pr/moore020309.pdf

In the letter, here's a bunch of politicking as he seeks to retain his job (Congress is calling for his boss to go). Then he tells Congress he is pleased to announce that his staff has found a"

"'bright line' to guide libraries as to what books we will deem not to pose a problem and which ones should be sequestered"

pending further scientific evidence proving that the books are safe. He finds himself unable to wriggle out of admitting that there isn't much they can legally do about the books.

Fenrislorsai, your pictures just about rip out pieces of my heart, but thank-you for sharing them.

[Former_Member]

Yes, but I suspect you were POKED by the deadly staples, not that you got lead poisoning from them.

I think everybody has been poked by a staple a few times. It vaguely hurts, doesn't kill you. You learn not to poke sharp things with your fingers.

As to "has any child ever gotten lead poisoning from a book?" NO. Nor have they been seriously injured by them. The most serious injury most people have every suffered from a book is a sibling smacking them in the head with one. Which really, if your kids are in the "wildly waving items around" stage, they could easily hit their sib with a shoe, rock, or apple as a book.

[Former_Member]

For those who want a slightly sillier take on it, here's a CPSIA macro:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21881149@N06/3279116609/

Quick, lock up that criminal for exposing our chiiiiiiildren to a deadly substance!

[Former_Member]

We should "throw the book" at all the over-protective political bureaucrats.

[Former_Member]

Send it in to a whistleblower website...LOL.

[Former_Member]

LOL, maybe that's why they don't want the books around, they are afraid one of the pokey little staples will fly off and get in their eye (I once had a summer school teacher so afraid of potential-not actual- lawsuits she threatened detention to a boy for throwing paper dots (from the hole puncher) into the air because she said they might get in someone's eye and hurt them. WOW. I really hope we can continue to push and yell and make the laws more resonably written. I hate to see empty book store shelves. Reading was one of my favorite things (still is) and the loss of any literature is sad.

[Former_Member]

fenrislorsrai:
tee hee
maybe we should outlaw shoes, rocks, and apples too! Then we can lock all the little children away in sterile padded spaces till their 12 and ready to face the dangers of books and clothing!
I really am so sorry that you were forced to remove some of your stock that was printed prior 1985. It breaks my heart to see them all boxed up like that. I wish you the best.

[Former_Member]

That Alexander book is one of my all time favorite books. And I handed down my copy to my 3 year old son, staples and all.
How terrible. I am so sorry for this.
I too am sick at the thought of empty bookshelves. I would still buy them. You should have a yard sale.

[Former_Member]

A little off-topic. It just dawned on me that I've been seeing the Cheerios boxes with the book giveaway (I think this is the time of year they generally do that). These are all small books, held together with staples.

Now, (please correct me if I'm wrong, as I'm not following the books side of the CPSIA as closely as others) while they're brand new books, those staples shouldn't be there, correct?

[Former_Member]

Good question. I wonder if teachers are allowed to use staplers in the classroom...I taught elementary school for 12 years and used the stapler for homework packets and bulletin boards.

[CopperLeafStudios]

how are libraries handling this?? Are they exempt because they are not selling the items? Or are they considered a distributor??

I don't think you'll get as much reaction from congress or the public if they perceive this as effecting a few small home-based industries, but if shelf-loads of books are pulled from the children's area at the libraries... might be a way to get more public attention. Clearly there is still not enough awareness.

[SusanAnna]

This is beyond terrible.

[Former_Member]

This just breaks my heart... My parents saved all my, and my brother's, books from when we were children. Now, they are some of my daughter's most treasured possessions... Many of the titles are out of print now, so one wouldn't even be able to get a new, "safe" copy from the library or bookstore... Really sad.

[Former_Member]

Please somebody, tell me this is a bad dream, and I'm going to wake up.

Books helped my brothers and I tremendously while being raised by a mentally ill, verbally and physically abusive as well as neglectful mother. We were obsessed with books! And not once did we sustain staple induced trauma.

[Former_Member]

<<littlethingsboutique
littlethingsboutique says:
A little off-topic. It just dawned on me that I've been seeing the Cheerios boxes with the book giveaway (I think this is the time of year they generally do that). These are all small books, held together with staples.

Now, (please correct me if I'm wrong, as I'm not following the books side of the CPSIA as closely as others) while they're brand new books, those staples shouldn't be there, correct?>>

Correct, by the definition used by the CPSA, those are not "ordinary books" because they contain staples. Therefore they are a danger to children. Quick, turn them in! Rosie's Walk and "Zin, Zin a Violin" are clearly VERY DANGEROUS.

[KotiBeth]

I'd also love to know about the ruling for libraries. My son brought home a pretty old book from the school library on Friday. Are they poisoning my baby? Shall I call poison control and waste their time?

*eye roll*

But yeah, I would like to know what the ruling is for libraries and teachers using staples.

[Former_Member]

this whole thing(cpsia) is so ridiculous.
i managed to live through the era of the deadly childrens books-as did most of us.and i had lots of em.i'm still here.i think our library still has some old books.i'm gonna check next time.sometimes if there are multiple versions and 1 is 'old' ,i will purposely choose the older edition because of its charm.