It's a tale as old as time: books being banned for Reason X that Group Y feels threatened by its contents. However, an idea is something that cannot be contained. Books are one of the oldest forms of communication and to censor books goes against human knowledge. Fighting the good fight, The New York Public Library has announced four banned books are available nationwide to anyone without any wait times. A. Khalid has the details.
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. 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.
Engadget
While I don't necessarily agree with the limits libraries must adhere to with the distribution of eBooks, I applaud the NYPL and the corresponding publishers to remove said limits for the express purpose of fighting book bans. History has shown these attempts to limit knowledge are culture wars fought in the name of children's best interests and censorship being the answer. There are many issues people can disagree on. Access to knowledge and information dictated by people based on their personal beliefs is simply wrong.