San Diego Public Library’s ‘Books Unbanned’ program gives out-of-state teens free digital access to over 250 banned titles nationwide.

SAN DIEGO — Thousands of books face bans nationwide this year, but in California, where libraries cannot ban books by law, the San Diego Public Library is fighting back by giving free digital access to teens in other states where titles are restricted.

Harry Potter, To Kill a Mockingbird, All Boys Aren’t Blue and Gender Queer are among more than 6,000 titles challenged last year. The literary advocacy group PEN America reports over 6,800 books were actually removed from school libraries last academic year, with Florida, Texas and Tennessee leading the way. Most target LGBTQ+ and racial content.

“It’s really silencing particular communities, artists and creators who are putting together stories about their own lives and about lives that the rest of us are able to tap into and learn from,” said Patrick Stewart, CEO of the San Diego Library Foundation.

The pushback has reached San Diego County. Two years ago, people checked out more than a dozen pride books from the Rancho Peñasquitos Library branch and threatened not to return them until the pride display was taken down. Schools in Escondido and Temecula have also faced challenges from parents and activist groups.

The nonprofit joined libraries in Brooklyn, Boston, Los Angeles, Long Beach and Seattle in a program called Books Unbanned, offering free digital library cards to teens and young adults nationwide.

“This gives a young person in Oklahoma, for example, access to those 275 books available through the San Diego Public Library,” Stewart said.

More than 7,000 people have signed up, with about 1,500 checkouts over the past two years.

“All of them outside of our service area, most of them in the most heavily banned areas, so like Texas and Missouri and Florida and Georgia,” Stewart said.

Supporters of book bans say the issue isn’t about censorship but about parents having a say in what materials their kids are exposed to and at what age.

As of January, California state law bars public libraries from banning books based on race, gender identity or sexual orientation. Most states don’t have those protections.

Stewart shared stories from teens who signed up for the program.

“If I [were] caught bringing this book home into my house, my stepfather would kick me out. My parents don’t agree with this. I am still trying to figure out how to come out to my family,” Stewart said, quoting messages from users.

Stewart says the program is entirely funded by donations. For every digital book checked out, the foundation purchases copies to replenish San Diego’s collection. Out-of-state teens can sign up for free at the San Diego Public Library’s ‘Books Unbanned’ website. 

“This is something that we should absolutely be challenging. We challenge the challenge. We ban the bans,” Stewart said.