LA County Strikes Forward with Making eBooks Accessible Statewide for Teenagers, Residents

Difficult what they name a spike in efforts to ban books from college and public libraries, notably books with LGBTQ+ themes, Los Angeles County supervisors moved ahead Tuesday with an effort to make county library eBooks — together with publications banned in different jurisdictions — out there to all California teenagers and residents.

The movement by supervisors Lindsey P. Horvath and Janice Hahn, which was permitted unanimously by the board, cited a latest report from the nonprofit PEN America that discovered a 28% improve in e book bans enacted throughout the nation within the first half of the 2022-23 college yr, in comparison with the earlier six months.

“The variety of banned books in California is on the rise,” the movement said. “In 2020, the Burbank Unified Faculty District banned inclusion of classics similar to ‘Huckleberry Finn’ by Mark Twain and ‘Of Mice and Males’ by John Steinbeck from their curriculum.”

“… We’ve seen concerted efforts to do the identical in different elements of the state, such because the San Ramon Valley Unified Faculty District within the Bay Space and Kingsburg Elementary Constitution Faculty District within the Central Valley whose e book problem coverage permits for a e book’s instant elimination in response to a single father or mother’s objection,” in accordance with the movement. “The development is so alarming that not too long ago Gov. Gavin Newsom, Legal professional Basic Rob Bonta, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond issued a letter to highschool districts statewide cautioning in opposition to e book bans.”

The movement additionally famous the latest firing of the Temecula Valley Unified Faculty District superintendent for “together with LGBTQ+ civil rights icon Harvey Milk within the college curriculum.”

Horvath and Hahn famous within the movement that in accordance with the American Library Affiliation, “nearly all the prime 10 books focused for censorship final yr in California faculties and libraries included LGBTQ+ themes.”

The movement instructed county library officers to report again in 30 days with a plan to make digital county library playing cards out there to all residents and youths in California — with the purpose of launching this system throughout Banned Books Week Oct. 1-7 — and figuring out a funding supply for buying eBooks, “together with generally banned books.”

“I’m deeply troubled by rise in bans on books that uplift the expertise of LGBTQ+ individuals, individuals of colour, and traditionally marginalized communities,” Horvath mentioned in a press release after the vote. “L.A. County is ready to broaden entry to literature all through our state as others search to ban it. We have now an obligation to make sure that residents throughout California are in a position to devour literature that promotes inclusive studying and a truthful telling of our nation’s historical past.”

Metropolis Information Service contributed to this text.