Little Rock, Arkansas - A state judge put a temporary block on a law that would allow librarians and booksellers to be criminally charged for sharing banned or "harmful" materials with minors.

According to The Associated Press, US District Judge Timothy L. Brooks issued a preliminary injunction on the law, which was set to take effect on August 1.

The law, which was signed by Governor Sara Huckabee Sanders earlier this year, also aimed to create a process in which books can be challenged, and then moved to a section of a library or bookstore where minors cannot access them.

The measure was challenged by a coalition of organizations that argued library and bookstore employees would fear prosecution, prompting them not to carry certain materials at all.

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Brooks reportedly argued in the ruling that because two parts of the law "are likely to result in the abridgment of Plaintiffs' First Amendment rights, Plaintiffs will suffer irreparable harm if a preliminary injunction is not granted."

Governor Sanders' push for the law comes as other Republican-led states have been fighting for measures to ban or restrict reading materials that cover topics deemed sensitive by conservatives, such as gender, sexuality, and race.

The American Library Association found that attempts to ban or restrict books across the nation in 2021 were the highest they have been in the last 20 years.