The New York Public Library makes four banned books free nationwide on its e-reader app

The New York Public Library made four banned books available nationwide on SimplyE, its free-reader app. The titles include Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi and Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. The library worked in coordination with the publishers and authors to make the titles available to the public for free, with no wait times or download limits. Normally publishers allow libraries to only lend out e-books to a single person at a time, often leading to long hold times at public libraries.While the titles are only available for a month (the titles will disappear by the end of May), interested readers don’t need to hold an NYPL library card or live in the region. The books will be released through NYPL’s “Books For All” program, which makes hundreds of titles in the public domain available to anyone nationwide.The NYPL has voiced its opposition to a recent spike in book banning across school districts nationwide, largely driven by conservative activists groups. Over the last nine months, more than 1,000 books have been banned or temporarily pulled from school districts, according to a report PEN America released this week.“These recent instances of censorship and book banning are extremely disturbing and amount to an all-out attack on the very foundation of our democracy,” said New York Public Library President Anthony W. Marx.The 1999 young adult... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2022-04-13 23:48:05 UTC ]
News tagged with: #largely driven #temporarily pulled #school districts #sexual content #sexual identity #future plans #national book award #libraries

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In Key Win, Judge Says Escambia County Book Banning Lawsuit Can Proceed

After a January 10 hearing, judge T. Kent Wetherell denied a motion by the Escambia County School Board to dismiss the case, suggesting that school officials cannot simply pull books they find objectionable from library shelves. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

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Judge Blocks Key Provisions of Iowa Book Banning Law

A federal judge has blocked two key portions of an Iowa law that sought to ban books with sexual content from Iowa schools and to bar classroom discussion of gender identity and sexuality for students below the seventh grade. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-12-29 05:00:00 UTC ]
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After Hearing, Court Set to Decide Fate of Iowa LGBTQ Book Banning Law

A federal judge is set to rule before the end of the year on two lawsuits seeking to block a controversial new Iowa law, SF 496, that would ban books with sexual content from Iowa classrooms and school libraries. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-12-22 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Jane Smiley on What It’s Like to Have Your Book Banned

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[ Literrary Hub | 2023-12-19 09:59:29 UTC ]
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E-readers were supposed to kill printed books. Instead, they're booming

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[ CBC | 2023-12-17 09:00:00 UTC ]
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Turning Kids into Readers Requires More than Access to Books

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New PEN America Report Documents 'Scarlet Letter' Effect of Book Bans

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Opinion: When libraries like Gaza's are destroyed, what's lost is far more than books

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Dhonielle Clayton Is Working to Make the Book World More Diverse

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[ The New York Times | 2023-12-10 10:00:31 UTC ]
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2023 in books: Protests, bannings and the rise of AI helped shape the story of publishing

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Congress Introduces New Bill to Fight Book Bans in Schools

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-12-06 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House, Authors Sue to Block Iowa Anti-LGBTQ Book Banning Law

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lambda Legal, ACLU Sue to Block Iowa Anti-LGBTQ Book Banning Law

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-29 05:00:00 UTC ]
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'Freelance Isn't Free' Becomes Law in New York State

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ACLU, Parents, and Students Sue Alaska School District Over Book Bans

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-21 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Desperate to Make Her Mother Smile, Nina Simon Wrote a Book

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Scholastic will drop policy that makes it easier for school fairs to exclude diverse books

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