Librarians in Arkansas filed a lawsuit Friday against the state in an attempt to undo its recently passed book ban.
Act 372 was signed into law by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR) in March and codified what “obscene materials” could not be distributed to minors. Subsequently, it made “furnishing a harmful item to a minor” an offense that allowed parents to sue.
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Now, librarians are fighting against what they call a “vague, sweeping law” in their suit because it creates “violations of their rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.”
According to their claim, it is impossible to “restrict the display of materials covered by the Availability Provision to juveniles without also restricting such access by adults” who have “the right to view, browse through and purchase material.”
The law promises that any book that is challenged by a reader “shall not be withdrawn solely for the viewpoints expressed within the material; and Shall be reviewed in its entirety and shall not have selected portions taken out of context.” It will not go into effect until Aug 1.
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Librarian advocacy group EveryLibrary Institute reported 15 states with bills that would open public librarians up to criminal charges for letting minors check out certain books this year. Already, Indiana and Montana have joined Arkansas in signing such bills.
Idaho and North Dakota attempted to legislate their libraries similarly but were ultimately vetoed by their respective Republican governors.
