Hand puppets will no longer be available for checkout or play at Hennepin County libraries, partly because of parents' concerns that fuzzy ladybugs and dinosaurs could transmit the H1N1 flu.

Likewise, soft toys such as the giant Clifford the Big Red Dog toys that decorate children's areas in some libraries are being temporarily pulled while swine flu is a concern, according to Ali Turner, the library system's senior youth services librarian.

"We have definitely been hearing questions from the public -- 'How often do you wash these? How does this work?' " Turner said. "We want to be respectful of that."

Puppets have been available at fewer than half of the 41 libraries in the suburbs and in Minneapolis, usually because library supporters and library friends groups bought them to help make the library fun for kids, Turner said. She said county funds have never been spent on the puppets.

Some libraries have allowed the puppets to be checked out, while others only permitted children to play with them on-site.

Librarians have no way of knowing if anyone has actually gotten sick because of viruses spread by the puppets, Turner said. "But we're sensitive to both the real threat and the public ... sense that this is germy."

The puppets also have been awkward items for busy library clerks to handle, Turner said. With the merger of county and Minneapolis libraries, clerks have had to check out a growing number of materials, and puppets of varying sizes that had to be bagged before they went out the door added to the workload, she said.

Library staff will continue to use puppets at children's story times and at talks helping parents learn how to get kids interested in reading. But right now, library materials aimed at children need to be "things that we can clean more easily and that a person could just wipe down before use," Turner said.

The puppets still will be available in libraries until signs are ready explaining why the puppets and stuffed animals are missing. Turner said the library hasn't decided what to do with all the puppets.

How much money will be saved by cutting the puppet program isn't clear, she said. With the library facing a budget cut for next year, Turner said library friends groups are more important than ever, and library officials hope they will focus fundraising efforts on other initiatives.

Mary Jane Smetanka • 612-673-7380