Three young adult authors have joined forces with the Big Five publishers and the Authors Guild to challenge a recent Idaho law that requires libraries to house certain books in adult-only sections.
Dashka Slater (The 57 Bus), Malinda Lo (Last Night at the Telegraph Club), and David Levithan (Boy Meets Boy) are among the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed in a U.S. district court that seeks to have Idaho House Bill 710, which was signed into law by Gov. Brad Little last year, overturned. The law requires books that are determined to be “harmful to minors” to be moved into sections only available to readers aged 18 or over.
The authors are joined in the suit by Penguin Random House, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster, along with the publisher Sourcebooks, the Authors Guild, an Idaho library district, two students, two parents of students, and a teacher.
The suit, filed against Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador, three Idaho district attorneys, and an Idaho public library board, says the law violates the First and 14th amendments.
In a statement published on her Substack newsletter, author Slater wrote, “Children and teenagers generally don’t have the ability to pay for books on their own or any idea where to get book recommendations and suggestions tailored to their interests and capacity. They rely on their public, classroom, or school library as their point of access. When educators and librarians in Idaho are prohibited from sharing my books with teenagers, it prevents me from engaging with young readers in that state.”
The Associated Press reports that a spokesperson for Labrador declined to comment on the suit.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
