Current:Home > MyNew app allows you to access books banned in your area: What to know about Banned Book Club-InfoLens
New app allows you to access books banned in your area: What to know about Banned Book Club
View Date:2025-01-11 17:30:27
The Digital Public Library of America has launched a new program that provides users with free access to books that are banned in their area.
The program, called The Banned Book Club, provides readers with free access to books pulled from shelves of their local libraries. The e-books will be available to readers via the Palace e-reader app.
“At DPLA, our mission is to ensure access to knowledge for all and we believe in the power of technology to further that access,” said John S. Bracken, executive director of Digital Public Library of America, in a news release.
“Today book bans are one of the greatest threats to our freedom, and we have created The Banned Book Club to leverage the dual powers of libraries and digital technology to ensure that every American can access the books they want to read,” he said.
According to the news release, the DPLA uses GPS-based geo-targeting to establish virtual libraries in communities across the country where books have been banned.
Check out: USA TODAY's weekly Best-selling Booklist
MORE ON BOOK BANS:Booksellers seek to block Texas book ban on sexual content ratings in federal lawsuit
Banned books in your area
Readers can visit TheBannedBookClub.info to see the books that have been banned in their area. You may be asked to share your location with the website.
How to read banned books
You can access the Banned Book Club now by downloading the Palace app. Once you've downloaded the app, choose "Banned Book Club" as your library, then follow the prompts to sign up for a free virtual library card.
More specific instructions are available here.
Obama promotes Banned Book Club
Following the announcement of the launch, former President Barack Obama voiced his support for the program on Twitter.
1,200 requests to censor library books in 2022: ALA
The program launches at a time when the number of demands to censor library books is at a record-high.
According to a report from the American Library Association, there were over 1,200 demands to censor library books in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans since they began compiling data about censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago.
The number nearly doubled from the previous year.
“A book challenge is a demand to remove a book from a library’s collection so that no one else can read it. Overwhelmingly, we’re seeing these challenges come from organized censorship groups that target local library board meetings to demand removal of a long list of books they share on social media,” said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, in a news release earlier this year.
TO BE OR NOT TO BE ON THE SHELF?:New Florida school book law could restrict even Shakespeare
“Their aim is to suppress the voices of those traditionally excluded from our nation’s conversations, such as people in the LGBTQIA+ community or people of color," she said in the release.
Caldwell-Stone went on to say that the choice of what to read should be left to the reader, or, in the case of children, to parents, and that the choice does not belong to "self-appointed book police."
veryGood! (38)
Related
- What happens to Donald Trump’s criminal conviction? Here are a few ways it could go
- Switchblade completes first test flight in Washington. Why it's not just any flying car.
- Patrick Mahomes, Maxx Crosby among NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year 2023 nominees
- RHONJ's Jennifer Fessler Shares Ozempic-Type Weight Loss Injections Caused Impacted Bowel
- Just Eat Takeaway sells Grubhub for $650 million, just 3 years after buying the app for $7.3 billion
- New Orleans marsh fire blamed for highway crashes and foul smell is out after burning for weeks
- Argentina’s President-elect Milei replies to Musk’s interest: ‘We need to talk, Elon’
- Where did all the veterinarians go? Shortage in Kentucky impacts pet owners and farmers
- Denzel Washington teases retirement — and a role in 'Black Panther 3'
- NCAA's new proposal could help ensure its survival if Congress gets on board
Ranking
- Kentucky gets early signature win at Champions Classic against Duke | Opinion
- Patients expected Profemur artificial hips to last. Then they snapped in half.
- Serena Williams Reveals Her Breastmilk Helped Treat the Sunburn on Her Face
- Dancing With the Stars Season 32 Winners Revealed
- Mother of Man Found Dead in Tanning Bed at Planet Fitness Gym Details His Final Moments
- South Dakota Governor proposes tighter spending amid rising inflation
- Missed student loan payments during 'on-ramp' may still hurt your credit score. Here's why
- What Is Rizz? Breaking Down Oxford's Word of the Year—Partly Made Popular By Tom Holland
Recommendation
-
Bev Priestman fired as Canada women’s soccer coach after review of Olympic drone scandal
-
House explodes as police in Arlington, Virginia, try to execute search warrant, officials say
-
Families of 3 Black victims in fatal Florida Dollar General shooting plead for end to gun violence
-
Deputy fired and arrested after video shows him punch man he chased in South Carolina
-
Video shows masked man’s apparent attempt to kidnap child in NYC; suspect arrested
-
6 held in Belgium and the Netherlands on suspicion of links to Russia sanction violations
-
Vice President Harris breaks nearly 200-year-old record for Senate tiebreaker votes, casts her 32nd
-
'Past Lives,' 'May December' lead nominations for Independent Spirit Awards