Travelers waiting for their flights at Los Angeles International Airport can pass the time by eating, sipping a drink, people-watching or even reading a banned book.
At least, that's the intention of a collaboration between the Los Angeles Public Library and LAX, which will offer visitors to the world's eighth-busiest airport a free one-week pass to the library's digital collections.
If the proposal receives final approval from the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday, screens in the airport could soon be urging people to use a QR code to get a temporary library card to read banned books, which could be issued to anyone, regardless of where they live.
The cards will allow readers to read bestsellers as well as books that have been removed from stores elsewhere in the country, including Toni Morrison's novel “The Bluest Eye” and the graphic novel “Let's Talk about It: The Teen's Guide to Sex, Relationships and Being a Human.”
Encouraging travelers to read banned books may seem like a minor skirmish in a broader culture war, but advocates of free access to literature see programs like LAX's, and “Banned Books Week,” celebrated Sept. 22-28, as a backlash against efforts to ban books for reasons including sex, race, violence or the occult.
“LAX is the perfect place to get this message out to millions of people,” said Alexia Valencia, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez, who introduced the proposal to the City Council this year. “LA is a place where people can come and have access to these ideas and books. This is what LA is all about.”
More than 75 million travelers are expected to use Los Angeles International Airport in 2023. Lauren Alba, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles World Airports, which owns and operates the airport, said the banned books program will expand “the avenues for travelers to access art, literature and other forms of free entertainment.”
The City Council approved Rodriguez's motion to provide “access to banned books in each terminal at the airport.” Details worked out by the library and Los Angeles World Airports will be subject to a procedural vote by the City Council on Tuesday.
Implementation will be up to the library and Los Angeles International Airport, “which could be implemented as soon as the next few weeks,” Alba said. The library and airport will use existing funds to cover the costs of the program.
“The Library's mission is to advocate for freedom of expression and oppose censorship,” said Gene Brown, the Library's director of emerging technologies and collections. “We believe in providing access to all content, and our goal with this initiative is to support reading freedom.”
The Los Angeles Public Library and LAX collaboration builds on a borrowing program the library launched in 2023. Free to readis a service that issues library cards and allows immediate access to banned books. According to the library, about 450 “Read Freely” library cards have been issued nationwide, and 120 e-books have been borrowed.
Every year, the American Library Association compiles a list of books it deems “most problematic” after being targeted for removal or restriction by school districts or local governments. The three most problematic books in 2023 were “Genderqueer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe, “All Boys Are Not Blue” by George M. Johnson, and “This Book Is Gay” by Juno Dawson. All three are available on the Los Angeles Public Library's digital card.
Book bans have occurred in 33 states; According to PEN America: Florida led the way, with nearly 700 books by authors as diverse as Marcel Proust and Amy Poehler being removed from school libraries in Orange County.
California ranks low on the list: In 2022, the book “This Book Is Gay” was banned in the state by the William S. Hart Union High School District in Santa Clarita.
Banned Books WeekFirst organized in 1982, the campaign has become an annual event organized by the American Library Association. Over 4,200 books The number of videos subject to censorship in 2023 will be 65% higher than in 2022.
Greg Burt, vice president of the Christian group Family Council of California, said opponents of the book ban misunderstood efforts by groups like his to limit minors' access to some books.
“We're not having an honest conversation about this issue,” he said. “It's just slogans and rhetoric, pretending that there are no books that minors shouldn't have access to. We should be able to keep some material away from minors without being called book-bearers.”
LAX's efforts come at a time when California libraries are facing increased scrutiny from conservative groups. Fresno County In Huntington Beach, a review committee made up of residents was formed to evaluate whether some books were accessible to children.
Last month, Sacramento lawmakers passed House Bill 1825, which would prohibit public libraries from banning books for their treatment of subjects such as gender or sexual identity. The bill is on Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk.
Staff writer Dakota Smith contributed to this report.
