The Brooklyn Library has issued more than 5 subscriptions to residents of other states so that they can read books banned there

Earlier this year, some public and school libraries removed books from their shelves. In this regard, the Brooklyn Public Library in New York has made it easier to access thousands of books for teenagers across the country. Writes about it CNN.

In the past few months, the Brooklyn Library has given out more than 5100 free e-library cards to young people across the country, said librarian Nick Higgins.

In April, the library launched the "Books Without Ban" initiative to counter censorship and the growing number of book bans in schools and libraries.

Since then, readers aged 13 to 21 in every state in the country and in Washington, D.C. have applied for e-cards, and about 18 e-books or audio books have been loaned out each month.

“On the one hand, it’s great that we were able to step in and support people in their time of need by giving them access to reliable library collections, but it also shows that there are significant censorship efforts going on across the country and we need to come together to give fight back,” says Higgins.

He said the library had received hundreds of messages from teenagers and their families thanking them. Readers described how the books were taken off the shelves and shared how disappointed they were.

Due to the success of the initiative, the Brooklyn Public Library plans to continue the program indefinitely. Young people will continue to receive a free e-library card for one year, Higgins said, and they will have the option to renew it.

Cardholders have access to a library archive of 350 e-books, 000 audio books and over 200 databases. The library, among other things, provides access to a selection of frequently read books.

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As part of this initiative, a group of teens from New York who are members of the Council on Intellectual Freedom invited teens who received e-cards to a virtual meeting. Now teenagers in Texas, Alabama and other states meet once a month to discuss censorship and how to fight it in their communities.

“Watching groups connect with each other across state lines just to come together and also try to find a common understanding of a particular topic and how it affects them is really inspiring. This is really what this whole initiative was actually created for, ”Higgins said.

An April analysis by PEN America found that more than 1500 books were banned in 86 school districts from July 31, 2021 to March 31, 2022.

Public libraries have been engulfed in a nationwide debate about what publications people, especially children, have access to, as conservative groups and individuals ban books about race, gender, or sexuality.

Like the Brooklyn Public Library, librarians in other parts of the country are doing their part to counter censorship. In Texas, the Austin Public Library partnered with an independent bookstore—holding meetings and events at branch libraries, bookstores, and even public parks that discussed the authors of banned and contested books, even hosting transvestite storytelling hours.

In recent weeks, the Louisiana School Librarians Association has called on its members to speak out against censorship. Amanda Jones, president of the organization and librarian at Livingston High School, said they want to educate community members about school library policy.

“These marginalized groups capitalize on the lack of knowledge of ordinary citizens, and they use rhetoric such as pornography and erotica to describe books, especially on LGBTQ+ topics and sexual health books written by experts such as the American Psychological Association, Jones noted. “They are not interested in the truth.”