E-Books Can Subvert Book Bans, But Corporate Profit-Seeking Stands in the Way | Truthout

"Libraries have been quick to push back [against book bans] and to find ways to do what they’ve always done: provide books and information for their patrons in whatever ways they can. E-books have been an enormous boon in that effort. The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) started Books Unbanned in April 2022 in response to the rise in book bans around the country. The program is geared toward teens because teen books are among the most targeted by book banners, particularly those by and about LGBTQ people, as well as Black people, Indigenous people and other people of color (BIPOC). Teens can email the library and sign up for a card that gives them access to BPL’s entire digital collection, including a collection of always available banned and challenged books....

Another effort to provide access to banned books comes from the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), founded in 2013 to “maximize [Americans’] access to our shared history, culture, and knowledge.” Launched by the DPLA in July 2023, “The Banned Books Club” gives patrons who download its app a way to borrow digital versions of books that have been banned in their area....

Publishers have long espoused their opposition to censorship and commitment to the belief that “free people read freely,” but their response to library book bans has primarily consisted of one-time donations and statements on their websites. And while the publishing industry has mostly endorsed the part of freely that means “unimpeded by ideological constraints,” it has been much less supportive of the part that means “without undue economic burden. Publishers talk a big talk, but they fall down when it comes to supporting broader information access — including access to e-books, the very technology that is supposed to be bridging the banned books divide. That tension is nowhere more apparent than on the Association of American Publishers’ website, which lists “Advocating for Strong Copyright Laws,” “Promoting a Free and Transparent Market,” and “Protecting Freedom of Expression and the Free Exchange of Ideas” as policy priorities. OverDrive reports efforts to “broaden access for all citizens,” but its pricing all still depends on licensing...."