LA County to consider making eBooks available in response to book bans

Challenging what they call a spike in efforts to ban books from school and public libraries, particularly those with LGBTQ+ themes, two Los Angeles County supervisors are proposing Tuesday that eBooks be available to all through the county library system.

The consideration to make books available to all California teens and residents comes about as certain publications are commonly becoming banned.

The motion by supervisors Lindsey P. Horvath and Janice Hahn cites a recent report from the nonprofit PEN America that found a 28% increase in book bans enacted across the country in the first half of the 2022-23 school year, compared to the previous six months.

"The number of banned books in California is on the rise," the motion states. "In 2020, the Burbank Unified School District banned inclusion of classics such as `Huckleberry Finn' by Mark Twain and `Of Mice and Men' by John Steinbeck from their curriculum," according to the motion.

The motion lists other parts of the state where book banning has occurred, where according to the American Library Association, "almost all of the top 10 books targeted for censorship last year in California schools and libraries included LGBTQ+ themes.

If approved by the board, the motion would instruct county library officials to report back in 30 days with a plan to make digital county library cards available to all residents and teens in California -- with the goal of launching the program during Banned Books Week Oct. 1.

"Now, more than ever, as Pride Month comes to a close, the county of Los Angeles must stand with the banned -- the students who are deprived of the literature that reflects the diversity of our great state -- and make our eBook resources available to all California teens and residents," the motion states.