Recommending books to read this summer, Barack Obama voiced support for the Banned Books Club, an initiative from the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) aiming to fight flourishing censorship of books in schools.
“Here’s some books that I’m reading this summer,” the former president said in a tweet. “Check them out and let me know what I should be reading next.”
Among Obama’s recommended reads for beach, porch or sun lounger were King: A Life, Jonathan Eig’s new biography of Martin Luther King Jr; Birnam Wood, by the New Zealand novelist Eleanor Catton; and The Wager, David Grann’s nonfiction epic of an 18th-century shipwreck.
Authorities in Republican states have increasingly responded to pressure from rightwing groups to implement bans on books deemed unsuitable for schools.
Obama addressed the issue earlier this week, in support of another effort, Unite Against Book Bans, led by the American Library Association (ALA).
Calling book bans “profoundly misguided”, the former president wrote: “Some of the books that shaped my life – and the lives of so many others – are being challenged by people who disagree with certain ideas or perspective.
“It’s no coincidence that these ‘banned books’ are often written by or feature people of color, indigenous people, and members of the LGBTQ+ community.”
According to the ALA, in US public schools last year “a record 2,571 unique titles were targeted for censorship … a 38% increase from the 1,858 unique titles targeted for censorship in 2021”.
Here’s some books that I’m reading this summer. Check them out and let me know what I should be reading next. pic.twitter.com/zMBNwX2qUW
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 20, 2023
On Thursday, Obama wrote: “With so many books being banned across the country, the DPLA has launched the Banned Book Club to give readers access to e-books that have been banned.”
According to the DPLA, the Banned Books Club uses “GPS-based geo-targeting … [to] establish virtual libraries in communities across the US where books have been banned.
“When a reader is within a community served by a library that has been forced to ban a book, they can visit TheBannedBookClub.info to see the exact books that have been banned in their area. Then they can download those books for free on any handheld device via the Palace e-reader app.”
John S Bracken, executive director of the DPLA, said: “Our mission is to ensure access to knowledge for all and we believe in the power of technology to further that access.
“Today book bans are one of the greatest threats to our freedom, and we have created the Banned Book Club to leverage the dual powers of libraries and digital technology to ensure that every American can access the books they want to read.”
