Federal court hears oral arguments in appeal of Arkansas’ library obscenity law; Arkansas Advocate, June 11, 2026

 TESS VRBIN, Arkansas Advocate; Federal court hears oral arguments in appeal of Arkansas’ library obscenity law

"A federal appeals court heard arguments Thursday to uphold the injunction of a 2023 Arkansas law governing challenges to library content, while Arkansas’ solicitor general said the plaintiffs’ allegations were “too speculative.”

The three-judge panel from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis will rule on whether two sections of Act 372 of 2023 can go into effect. A district judge blocked the provisions in 2024, and the state appealed the ruling in 2025.

The two challenged sections would create criminal liability for librarians who distribute content that some consider “obscene” or “harmful to minors,” and give city and county governing bodies the final say over library content.

The 18 plaintiffs in the case include libraries, bookstores, advocacy groups and individual library patrons. The defendants are Arkansas’ 28 prosecuting attorneys, Crawford County and its county judge, Chris Keith.

Crawford County lost another federal lawsuit in 2024 after three parents claimed the county library violated the First Amendment by moving LGBTQ+ children’s books into separate “social sections” that only adults could access."

This Bookstore Gets Good Mileage; The New York Times, May 9, 2026

Visuals and Text by Ruth Fremson, The New York Times; This Bookstore Gets Good Mileage

"Saint Rita’s Amazing Traveling Bookstore Textual Apothecary (its name painted on the sides and back of the van) is a vehicle for the cross-pollination of people and conversation. That’s what has evolved since Collins, now 74, began imagining her retirement dream more than a decade ago — not just selling high quality, inexpensive books, but setting her love of people, places and the wonders of a good read all in motion together."

Can Your Camera Phone Turn You Into a Pirate?; New York Times, 1/16/11

Nick Bilton, New York Times; Can Your Camera Phone Turn You Into a Pirate? :

"Charles Nesson, the Weld professor of law at Harvard Law School and founder of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society there, also said that the act of “documenting” a book, as he called it, bears many similarities to pirating music. It could lead to a new wave of legal cases brought by bookstores or publishers, he said, much like the litigation brought by music companies against sites like Napster and LimeWire and their users."

5 Ways The Google Book Settlement Will Change The Future of Reading; io9.com, 4/2/10

io9.com; 5 Ways The Google Book Settlement Will Change The Future of Reading:

"1. It may become harder to get information online about books from writers you love...

2. You will find yourself reading free books online, by authors who have disappeared. And Google will make money when you do...

3. Google will be competing with Apple and Amazon and everybody else to be your favorite online bookseller...

4. Google will be competing with Apple and Amazon and everybody else to be your favorite online bookseller...

5. Pulp science fiction will make a comeback in ways you might not expect."

http://io9.com/5501426/5-ways-the-google-book-settlement-will-change-the-future-of-reading