The Brooklyn and Seattle public libraries asked a simple question to those signing up for free digital access to their libraries: Why do you want this library card? What they received was hundreds of personal stories from young people about not just the state of book and library access across the country, but stories that gave a unique look at how limited access to some books impacts young people. Amy Mikel, who helped design the program, didn't expect to be opened up to so many personal stories of what access to books meant to these young people. "What's even more shocking and frankly very hard emotionally for me to begin to process was that so many of these young people were simply telling us, begging us for a library card because they had such limited access to books and reading material," said Mikel. Last year, Scripps News learned about the initiative called Books Unbanned, started by the Brooklyn Public library in 2022.
