Report: “Book Publishers, Authors, Donnelly Public Library Sue Idaho Officials Over Library Materials Law”

From the Idaho Capital Sun:

National book publishers, authors, the Donnelly Public Library, and a handful of Idaho parents and students sued the Idaho officials on Tuesday to block the state’s library materials law.

[Plaintiffs include: Penguin Random House; Hachette Book Group; Harpercollins Publishers; Macmillan Publishing Group; Simon & Schuster; Sourcebooks; The Authors Guild; Donnelly Public Library District;  & Others]

The lawsuit, filed in federal court for the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho, challenges Idaho’s law adopted in 2024 that requires libraries move materials deemed “harmful to minors,” or face lawsuits.

The lawsuit alleges Idaho’s law violates the constitutional rights of publishers, authors, parents, librarians, educators and students, “by forcing public schools and libraries to undertake drastic measures to restrict minors’ access to books, or face injunction and/or monetary penalty.”

The lawsuit alleges Idaho’s law, passed by the Idaho Legislature and signed by Gov. Brad Little through House Bill 710, is “vague and sweeping.” The lawsuit requests the court enjoin the law’s enforcement and declare the law unconstitutional and void for violating First and 14th Amendment rights in the U.S. Constitution.

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From Boise Dev:

“The right to speak and the right to read are inextricably intertwined,” the complaint said. “Authors have the right to communicate their ideas to students without undue interference from the government.  Students have a corresponding right to receive those ideas.  Publishers, educators, and parents connect authors to students in collaboration with one another.  If the State of Idaho dislikes an author’s idea, it can offer a competing message.  It cannot suppress the disfavored message by falsely affixing to it a label of ‘harmful’ or ‘obscene.’”

The complaint asks a federal judge to throw out the law, which last April was signed by Gov. Brad Little after being approved by both chambers of the legislature.

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Defendants named in the complaint include Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador and prosecuting attorneys in Ada, Nez Perce, and Valley counties.

In Donnelly, the law led to the adoption of an “adults only” policy amid space constraints that prevented the separation of books in the 1,000-square-foot library.

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UPDATED (2/5): Statement: From The Authors Guild Joins Publishers in Federal Lawsuit to Strike Down Idaho’s Unconstitutional Book Ban

Filed under: Companies (Publishers/Vendors), Libraries, News, Public Libraries, Publishing