Arresting Librarians AND Booksellers in the United States

No country that arrested librarians and booksellers was on the right side of history.

But that's what's happening in Arkansas.

And this is where your whole country is headed with H.R 7661 and S 4925

SIGN THE PETITIONS FOR H.R 7661 AND S 4925

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Arkansas Act 372 amends state laws by including librarians and booksellers among those who can be criminally charged for distributing or providing materials deemed “harmful to minors.”

The law allows anyone to challenge the “appropriateness” of materials, yet fails to define what constitutes “obscene” or “inappropriate.”

Here is the most dangerous part of this legislation:

“Anyone” here is also not limited to Arkansas residents; anyone who lives anywhere can lodge complaints about materials they believe are “harmful to minors.”

That means that extremist groups from anywhere in the United States can descend on Arkansas to control what your children can read.

TELL CONGRESS!!

We made it easy to contact your legislators today by sending an email or a postcard.

Challenged materials would face a public hearing to determine whether they can remain on shelves or must be removed.

Librarians and booksellers could face up to a year in prison if they’re found to have “distributed” inappropriate material to those under the age of 18.

The law, which doesn’t bother defining what constitutes inappropriate, does go to painstaking lengths in defining what is meant by “distributed.”

This includes simply having the book sitting on a shelf.

Book displays, book recommendations, and other means of highlighting materials would be folded into the definition of “distributed.” - Read more here from BookRiot.

Please sign the petitions against H.R 7661 and S 4925 and click to share this on Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, Twitter, and LinkedIn