Victory for Libraries: Judge Rules in Favor of the Freedom to Read

Over the past several years, CALS and libraries across the nation have faced a growing wave of book challenges aimed at limiting access to diverse materials. This impact was felt in Arkansas with the passage of Act 372, signed by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders on March 31, 2023. This law imposes restrictions on library materials and creates criminal penalties for librarians.

Last summer, a coalition of public libraries, library organizations, professional librarians, library patrons, booksellers, bookstore customers, booksellers’ associations, and authors’ associations challenged the constitutionality of Sections 1 and 5 of Arkansas Act 372. On July 29, 2023, U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks issued a preliminary injunction, temporarily halting enforcement of certain provisions of the law.

Today, as many prepare for the holidays, Judge Brooks has issued a ruling in our favor.

Section 1 of Act 372 created a new criminal misdemeanor – subjecting librarians, booksellers, and even parents to up to a year in jail – for “furnishing a harmful item to a minor.” Section 5 of Act 372 would have required CALS and other public libraries to establish a burdensome challenge process and permitted local governments to stigmatize and impede access to disfavored or controversial viewpoints.

Today, Judge Brooks reaffirmed what he found in his preliminary injunction order: “Sections 1 and 5 of the Act remain vaguely worded and susceptible to multiple meanings; Section 1 violates the due process rights of professional librarians and booksellers and the First Amendment rights of library and bookstore patrons; and Section 5 empowers local elected officials to censor library books they feel are not ‘appropriate’ for citizens to read and allows (if not encourages) content- and viewpoint-based restrictions on protected speech without any compelling governmental purpose.” He concluded that Sections 1 and 5 violated the First Amendment and ordered the defendants not to enforce those sections.

“This is a significant milestone on a long, sometimes rocky road we were obligated to travel after the passage of Act 372. We took that path to protect our librarians from prosecution for doing their jobs and to prevent some local elected officials from censoring library books they did not feel were ‘appropriate’ for our patrons to read.

Judge Brooks’ ruling affirms the values that CALS librarians—and, I believe, most of our citizens—hold dear. Our Constitution does not authorize city boards, quorum courts, or even librarians like me to act as agents of government censorship by removing or restricting access to books simply because some members of our community find their content or ideas objectionable.

Under the law Judge Brooks has now permanently enjoined, elected officials would have been given the discretion to decide whether a book is ‘appropriate’ without the benefit of any criteria or procedures and without even having to first read the book. And librarians, fearing jail time, would have had an incentive to remove books that adults and older minors have the right to read; or maybe avoid the threat of prosecution by not acquiring those books,” said Nate Coulter, executive director of the Central Arkansas Library System.

We are deeply gratified by this ruling, and we are thankful for our allies, the librarians, booksellers, and reading advocates across the country who have worked together in defense of the freedom to read: Fayetteville Public Library, Eureka Springs Carnegie Public Library, Olivia Farrell, Miel Partain (in her own capacity and as parent and next friend of Madeline Partain), Jennie Kirby (as parent and next friend of Hayden Kirby), Leta Caplinger, Adam Webb, the Arkansas Library Association, Advocates for All Arkansas Libraries, Pearl’s Books, LLC, WordsWorth Community Bookstore, LLC (d/b/a WordsWorth Books), the American Booksellers Association, the Association of American Publishers, Inc., the Authors Guild, Inc., the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and the Freedom to Read Foundation. We are also grateful to the 264 donors who have contributed $75,335.30 to the CALS Foundation’s Legal Fund, which was created in May 2023 to underwrite the cost of challenging Act 372 in federal court.

Library patrons in Arkansas deserve access to a wide variety of materials and the ability to make their own choices. Parents—not the government—should decide what their children read and book banning has no place in our democracy. Together, we affirm one of our most fundamental values: the freedom to read.

This ruling is a significant moment for CALS and libraries across the state. We will provide further updates on this case as developments arise.

Link to the Memorandum Opinion and Order Granting Plaintiffs Summary Judgment

In the meantime, we encourage you to stay engaged with CALS. Visit your local branch, check out a big stack of books, and let us know how we can serve you better.

 

Happy holidays—and happy reading!

Central Arkansas Library System

For more background on the case, visit: https://cals.org/news/an-update-from-nate-coulter-regarding-act-372.