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Brooklyn Public Library offers access to banned ebooks to teens across the U.S

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Re: Brooklyn Public Library offers access to banned ebooks to teens across the U.S

#12

If I had a teenager, I would've made sure they know about the great shadow library. [1] It has a few advantages: there are no wait-times for the ebooks, it has no agenda other than providing access to books, and it actually has the real banned books you almost certainly wouldn't find in a public library. [1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_Genesis

> real banned books you almost certainly wouldn't find in a public library

Do I dare ask what they are?

Re: Brooklyn Public Library offers access to banned ebooks to teens across the U.S

#13

And maybe in Texas they will offer to loan books to Park Slope children the Park Slope progressives find objectionable.

What banned books in the BPL do you recommend?

I can't find "Practical Lock Picking" by Deviant Ollam [1] on their catalogue [2].

To be fair, it's not explicitly banned AFAIK, and it's a bit of a niche book (but it's famous among the respective hobbyists).

Also, to their credit, I looked up a bunch of other must-not-be-named titles you usually don't find in public libraries, and they did have most of them.

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Lock-Picking-Physical-Penet...

[1]: https://www.bklynlibrary.org/search?search=practical+lock+pi...

Re: Brooklyn Public Library offers access to banned ebooks to teens across the U.S

#14

How silly. As though there are gangs of teenagers throughout the country that can’t get “banned” books, whatever that means, despite having the freaking internet, and books being basically free. As though they’re living in communist China or something! Kids can buy these books, and get all sorts of other vile pornographic material online well before their teenage years. Local school boards are not the CCP and they ha…

The banned books part is besides the point. > allows anyone across the country between the ages of 13 and 21 to get a free eCard from BPL, which will give them access to 350,000 ebooks and 200,000 audiobooks, as well as access to databases. The cool part is that BPL made all of their ebooks available to a group of people around the country. All libraries should go this route and not just for teens.

Id say it's very much the point. I agree this should be more widespread, but unfortunately since the motivation is based on disseminating banned books rather than simply increasing access across the country we won't see that. This is more of a culture war move than a move to vincrease access. Just because it effectively has a positive outcome, doesn't mean it's even close to ideal

Re: Brooklyn Public Library offers access to banned ebooks to teens across the U.S

#15
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The banned books part is besides the point. > allows anyone across the country between the ages of 13 and 21 to get a free eCard from BPL, which will give them access to 350,000 ebooks and 200,000 audiobooks, as well as access to databases. The cool part is that BPL made all of their ebooks available to a group of people around the country. All libraries should go this route and not just for teens.

Id say it's very much the point. I agree this should be more widespread, but unfortunately since the motivation is based on disseminating banned books rather than simply increasing access across the country we won't see that. This is more of a culture war move than a move to vincrease access. Just because it effectively has a positive outcome, doesn't mean it's even close to ideal

I've read too much history to be an idealist about this kind of stuff. If any good change happens for any reason (that isn't seriously harming people) I'm happy about it.

Re: Brooklyn Public Library offers access to banned ebooks to teens across the U.S

#17
"Over 1,145 unique books were targeted between July and March, with 874 different authors, 198 illustrators, and 9 translators impacted. The index of the book challenges in this 8 month window include 1,586 book bans in 86 school districts in 26 states. These districts represent 2,899 schools with a combined enrollment of over 2 million students."

"Texas led the country with the most bans at 713, followed by Pennsylvania (456), Florida (204), Oklahoma (43), Kansas (30), and Tennessee (16)."

https://bookriot.com/us-school-book-bans/

Re: Brooklyn Public Library offers access to banned ebooks to teens across the U.S

#18

If I had a teenager, I would've made sure they know about the great shadow library. [1] It has a few advantages: there are no wait-times for the ebooks, it has no agenda other than providing access to books, and it actually has the real banned books you almost certainly wouldn't find in a public library. [1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_Genesis

> real banned books you almost certainly wouldn't find in a public library Do I dare ask what they are?

Two Hundred Years Together by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Re: Brooklyn Public Library offers access to banned ebooks to teens across the U.S

#19

And maybe in Texas they will offer to loan books to Park Slope children the Park Slope progressives find objectionable.

I just checked the NYPL catalog and found The Turner Diaries, Camp of the Saints and Mein Kampf to be available. Just three examples, but I find it hard to imagine what else they’d refuse to carry if those are fine.

Is there a particular book you have in mind that “Park Slope progressives” would find too objectionable for libraries to loan out?

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