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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The City Council Tuesday commemorated Banned Books Week, Oct. 2-7, and recognized L.A. Public Library staff for its continued work to ensure books are available to everyone.
"We are here today to celebrate and commemorate what is fundamentally an American right. It's the freedom of expression, of thought, and freedom to read whatever the hell you choose," said Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez, who led the presentation.
She added, "Unfortunately, in our growing divisive political climate, we continue to see an environment that is prohibiting and limiting people from being able to read some of the most very fundamental and traditional literature that has been available in this country for generations."
Rodriguez noted the city library department has positioned itself as "the point of access for those who have been held back from having access to the very fundamental opportunities of reading, and finding themselves in books that would otherwise be limited across the country."
City Librarian John Szabo, who oversees the Central Library in downtown L.A. and the 72 branches across the city, expressed pride to be an employee of a city that recognizes the importance of Banned Books Week.
He said the LAPL is a place for reading, plus an array of other services, including immigration and mental health services.
In September, more than 1,000 Angelenos signed up for library cards. The department recently held its LA Libro Fest at the Central Library, at which more than 1,000 young people and families celebrated books and authors in different languages.
"Now (we) celebrate Banned Books Week, which is a celebration of the freedom to read. The focus on the importance of intellectual freedom, and a reminder to all Angelenos and people everywhere that our libraries want to, endeavor to, and feel very strongly about making certain that we're collecting and making available stories of all our communities," Szabo said.
Book challenges and book bans across the nation are at an all-time high, almost doubling from a year ago, according to the American Library Association. The most challenged and banned books are stories from Black, Indigenous, persons of color and LGBTQ communities.
Szabo emphasized the LAPL stands for intellectual freedom, and staff members do a "great job of highlighting" the annual event for banned books through displays, blog posts, social media and public programming.
Jené Brown, director of emerging technologies and collections for LAPL, talked about a new initiative called "Read Freely with LAPL." She said it marks a "pivotal" moment in the department's commitment to intellectual freedom and the right to access information.
The initiative was launched Oct. 1 and will end at the end of the year. Read Freely with LAPL is a selection of digital books from the American Library Association's most challenged books list, making them available to readers ages 13 and older across the U.S.
Brown said enrolling in the initiative is a simple process -- applicants can create a Read Freely digital card and gain access to the collection of books on Libby, the LAPL's app designed to make borrowing books and accessing services from the library easier.
Angelenos with a library card can access the collection too, and those without library cards can easily obtain an E-card.
"In closing," Brown said, "I leave you with a power reminder. Free people read freely. Free people read freely, as aptly articulated by Tracy D. Hall, the executive director of the American Library Association."
More information about LAPL's Read Freely initiative can be viewed at lapl.org or at any of the 73 libraries across the city.