the banned book club

let freedom read

unbanning every book in America in real time

Intellectual freedom is under attack. More books than ever are being forced off library shelves. But what if there was a way to keep these books available, for everyone?

To fight the increasing number of book bans, we partnered with the Digital Public Library of America and launched The Banned Book Club. By geofencing every library forced to ban books, we put every banned book in America back in the hands of the people.

GOLD x CREATIVE USE OF DATA (2)SILVER (4)BRONZE

GOLD x BRAVERY GOLD x IDEA GOLD x RESET

"UNBELIEVABLE RESPONSE TO BOOK BANNING"

"TECH THAT ENABLES SOCIAL JUSTICE"

"PROTECTING THE FIRST AMENDMENT"

"MAKING SURE BOOKS DON'T DISAPPEAR"

HOW IT WORKS

USING THE PEN AMERICA INDEX OF BOOK BANS, WE MADE THE MOST UP-TO-DATE DATABASE OF BANNED BOOKS IN THE U.S.

THEN, WE GEOFENCED THE EXACT FOOTPRINT OF EVERY LIBRARY WITH BANNED BOOKS.

ANY PERSON WHO WALKS INTO THOSE LIBRARIES GAINS INSTANT ACCESS TO READ THE BANNED BOOKS, A MESSAGE LAWMAKERS COULDN'T IGNORE.

THE DPLA OWNS AND OPERATES THE PALACE PROJECT AS ITS PRIMARY WAY OF SHARING EBOOKS ACROSS AMERICA.

Watch video for app demo

LAUNCHED WITH PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

"OUR ENTIRE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT DEPENDS ON OUR ABILITY TO SHARE AND ACCESS IDEAS, INCLUDING THOSE WE DISAGREE WITH"

President Barack Obama

With so many books being banned across the country, @DPLA has launched The Banned Book Club to give readers access to e-books that have been banned. Learn more at https://t.co/ET5jreRQI4. pic.twitter.com/daWmibHujK
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 20, 2023

“THE BANNED BOOK CLUB COULDN’T BE MORE IMPORTANT IN IMPACTING CHILDREN TODAY, TOMORROW AND THE NEXT DAY”

Anne Stava-Murray, Lead House Sponsor of Bill HB2789

IMPACT

2,314 LIBRARIES GEOFENCED

The Banned Book Club geofenced libraries forced to ban books across the U.S., most prevalent in Texas, Florida, Missouri, Utah, and South Carolina.

3,059 TOTAL BOOKS UNBANNED

We unbanned every book in the country, which included twenty-one states: TX, FL, MO, UT, SC, PA, ND, MI, VA, TN, CO, IA, IN, WY, OK, AK, NU, MA, NJ, NC, and CA.

674 LGBTQIA+ BOOKS UNBANNED

Censorship largely targets marginalized communities, including stories by and for LGBTQIA+ individuals.

997 BOOKS ON RACE UNBANNED

Censorship targets books about race and racism. Many of these stories are written by Black or Brown authors.

1.5B TOTAL IMPRESSIONS

The project launched with the support of President Obama, and has been recognized by numerous publications, authors, libraries and social influencers.