California: “To Fight Banned Books Elsewhere, LA County Library Will Expand Access in State”

From the LA Daily News:

The Los Angeles County Library system wants to give people living outside of the county a way to get around book bans. The library is planning an expanded, digital library card that grants e-book access to users throughout California, a first for the library. The launch is planned to coincide with Banned Books Week in early October. “Book banning and book restricting is on the rise across the country, and it is certainly happening in Southern California. If other areas of California are restricting access to materials, the L.A. County Library would be there to provide that access,” said Wendy Crutcher, L.A. County Library’s collection development director.

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The expansion of the digital library card from just L.A. County residents to residents of all cities and counties in the state was authorized by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors on June 27. The library is working on the logistics and will report back to the board at the end of July.

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Crutcher said the county library is focusing on extending the access to youth aged 13 to 18. The action calls for expanding digital library cards to both youth and adults throughout the state but the scope remains to be seen. “Teens are being restricted in access to what they can read by school librarians and school curriculum,” Crutcher said. “There are more barriers in place for teens accessing this information than for adults.”

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See Also: Report From California: “To Combat Book Bans, Los Angeles County Library May Open Digital Access Statewide” (June 26, 2023)

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