The Banned Book Club is an initiative that unbans every book in America in real-time. Using data from diverse sources including PEN America and the ALA, along with geo-location data of physical libraries, and actual literary data, the Banned Book Club addresses one of the most pressing issues America is facing today; censorship. At its core, The Banned Book Club is an idea that relies on and brings together data to make books freely available to every American. We created the most up to date dynamic database in America, making banned books available digitally in the places they were banned.

Book banning is far and away impacting the Black, Brown and LGBTQIA+ communities. Over 74% of the books banned in the past five years are by or for marginalized people. These are the same communities that have been discriminated against for decades and centuries. So, it’s more important than ever to defend these people and let their voices be heard. That’s why we created The Banned Book Club. By unbanning these books in real-time, the DPLA is giving a voice back to marginalized groups who have repeatedly been silenced throughout history. Representation in literature is imperative to improving the lives of kids who might not always see themselves in mainstream media and entertainment. The Banned Book Club is enabling tens of thousands of people from these communities to access books that are otherwise inaccessible to them in their libraries. The impact The Banned Book Club has by providing access is life changing for many people.

America is facing a book banning crisis. Conservative politicians are silencing Black, Brown and LGBTQIA+ voices by forcing librarians to take their books off the shelf. In 2023 alone, 3,059 books were banned - more than in any other year. The Digital Public Library of America holds that our democracy relies on our freedom to read. And believes books should always be available to everyone. https://thebannedbookclub.creativesupportmaterial.com

The DPLA created the most up-to-date database of all of the books banned in America. Then, geo-fenced the exact footprint of every library that banned the books - and made those books available via a mobile app for anyone when they are within those very libraries. Sending a strong message - that every time they try to take a book off the shelf, we'll put it right back, virtually.

The Banned Book Club launched in partnership with President Obama, the most notable defender of our freedom of speech. The campaign reached more than 20 states that have books banned with geo-located Instagram and Facebook ads, that alerted people just as they were near those offending libraries.

The Banned Book Club is a digital solution for today and the future. Whenever a book is banned, it’s added to our database, making it available instantly. Ensuring no book is ever banned again.

We collaborated with the most credible sources on the issue of banned books including Pen America, the ALA, and libraries across the country to develop the most comprehensive database of book bannings in America. We researched the book bannings happening across thousands of municipalities across the country in 21 states. Using available third party data, we updated the database to include the precise geolocation coordinates for over 2,000 libraries. We brought together the database of banned books, geolocation and our existing app that houses over a million digital book titles.

This strategy provided all of the necessary data to execute our initiative to provide access to every banned book at the very location they are banned.

We used this data to target people in communities most affected by the issue. So when they were in proximity of a library with banned books, we alerted them and provided immediate access.

We created a dynamic database of every banned book in America using real-time data from PEN America and the American Library Association. We identified the libraries that each book was banned at, captured that library's geo-location and mapped banned books to the specific libraries they were banned at. Then, we geo-fenced each library so that anytime a book was banned, we were able to unban that book in real-time at the exact location it was banned. Users were able to report book bans allowing us to instantly update our dynamic database, immediately unbanning those books.

By bringing together geolocation data with the leading sources of banned book data we designed a system for today and the future. Whenever a new book is banned - it can simply be added to our dynamic database, making it available instantly in any library. Ensuring no book is ever banned again.

We developed a digital solution that addresses the immediate need of readers, sending a message to future would-be book banners.

The Banned Book Club was implemented on our existing technology platform called the Palace Project. We transferred the offerings on this existing legacy platform in a way that provides access to banned books based on our dynamic database and geo-fence data.

The Banned Book Club serves millions of Americans by providing them immediate free access to the thousands of books being banned by those pushing their own ideologies. The Club was embraced by the free speech community and led by former President Barack Obama.

The work provided access to thousands of books across thousands of libraries and was downloaded by nearly 80k new users. But as importantly, it sent a strong message to book banners everywhere that if they attempt to ban a book, we will unban it in real-time.