New Child and Teen Library Cards

Parents or guardians of youth ages 17 and under with Bossier Parish Library cards will need to visit a BPL library location to update the permissions on their child and teen library cards.

These changes to youth cards are a result of Louisiana Revised Statute 25:225. The statute, which was passed during the 2023 Louisiana legislative session, says that libraries must have a procedure in place for preventing youth from checking out items that its community says are inappropriate for youth.

In order to be compliant with these changes, Bossier Parish Libraries now has 3 different card types available for children and teens. These card types are now the following: 

• Child Only (Ages 12 & under) - may only check out physical materials from our Children's collection (please note this card does not allow any access to electronic materials/databases, such as Libby and Hoopla)
• Teen Only (Ages 13-17) - may only check out physical materials from our Children's and Young Adult collections (please note this card does not allow any access to electronic materials/databases, such as Libby and Hoopla)
• Child and Teen (Ages 17 & under) - may check out physical materials as well as digital materials (not allowed to check out DVDs and non-traditional materials)

Learn more about our Registration Policy here.

New Registration Forms 

Beginning today, all Bossier Parish Libraries cards for minors will be classified in its most restricted category unless the legal guardian has given explicit consent for their child to check out materials from our adult collection AND access digital materials. Legal guardians who would like their children to have a non-restricted child and teen card must:

1. Complete a new registration form for the minor
2. Check both of the boxes (1 to allow explicit consent to access the adult collection and 1 to allow access to digital materials). 
3. Initial by both of the boxes
4. Sign the registration form

Please note that if all of the above mentioned steps are not completed, the card will be classified in the most restricted category. 

Does this mean that Bossier Parish Libraries has inappropriate books / obscene books / pornography? 

We do not provide for circulation any materials that are labelled as pornography. Each family has different standards, and the Library encourages each individual and each family to make the decisions that are right for them. We do not decide what is appropriate or inappropriate for someone else’s family. 

Learn more about our Collection Development Policy here.