Judge blocks Arkansas law allowing librarians to be charged over ‘harmful’ books

Decision comes as lawmakers in conservative states are pushing for measures making it easier to ban or restrict access to books

Arkansas is temporarily blocked from enforcing a law that would have allowed criminal charges against librarians and booksellers for providing harmful" materials to minors, a federal judge ruled on Saturday.

US district judge Timothy L Brooks issued a preliminary injunction against the law, which also would have created a new process to challenge library materials and request that they be relocated to areas not accessible by kids. The measure, signed by the state's Republican governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, earlier this year, was set to take effect on 1 August.