The Donnelly Library, a 1,000-square-foot space that became a central hub for the community when it opened about six years ago, made the choice to transition to an “adults-only” library — with exceptions. Children and teens will still be allowed in the library if they are with a parent.

“There’s just too many unknowns,” Library Director Sherry Scheline told the Statesman. “This legislation, it makes a library that has no money very frightened. And so we do have to act a bit out of fear.”

The library’s board decided the decision was necessary to protect itself, Scheline said. The library will still hold its summer activities, and parents can sign waivers to allow their child to participate. It will also offer accommodations for families who don’t sign the forms.

“I know that the rural and small libraries are all hoping and praying that the first challenge is with a large library,” Scheline said. “The small rural ones … we’re the ones that are like, ‘What do we do?’”

Other libraries that initially planned to take more drastic measures pulled back after consulting with attorneys. Staffers at the Larsen-Sant Public Library in Preston, on the Utah border, had initially thought to close off their adult section and bar children from accessing it, Library Director Laura Wheatley said. They considered moving a shelf to block off a section of the library and having a dedicated staff member to monitor it.

Instead, the library will have an updated policy for collection development and challenging materials and made some changes to how its DVD and audio collections were ordered. They were previously in alphabetical order, and staff rearranged them to have all of the children’s material together so it’s easier to sort through for kids.

Wheatley said she’s heard a lot of concerns about the bill from patrons.

“Most of them felt like the government was saying, ‘Parents aren’t doing a good enough job that the government needs to take control of that,’” she told the Statesman.

Two other libraries, Burley and Portneuf, plan to insert dummy books into their collections if they decide to relocate a book after a patron’s request. But Burley Library Director Tayce Robinson said in about 24 years, the library has received one challenge to a book.

The Portneuf District Library created an “adults only” area in its back room, a closed stack only staff members can access that is currently empty, Craner said. The dummy book would act as a placeholder, and a patron who wanted to borrow the item would then have to ask staff to retrieve it.

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