The Brooklyn Public Library is offering free digital library cards to students across the country through a simple QR code.  

The reason for the free digital cards? To provide access to just some of the over 2,000 books banned in schools around the country, according to Pen America.  

Many of the books currently banned in states have some sexual content, tell the stories of LGBTQ+ people, or have a person of color as the main character. 

One Oklahoma mother and bookstore owner, Heather Hall, caught wind of the Brooklyn Public Library’s initiative, and decided to help spread the word through a TikTok that now has over 200,000 views.   

“It brings kids into reading and it allows them to feel less lonely,” said Hall. “My child can use her phone and go to the Brooklyn Library's digital card access and check out a book just like she could before. And the reason she can is because of the Brooklyn community.” 

In Oklahoma, a law was enacted to limit what public schools can teach about race and gender. Hall says a local teacher caught backlash for informing students about the Brooklyn Library’s initiative.  

“Not just here in Oklahoma, not just in Texas, not just in Florida, not just in Mississippi, not just in Kansas… We’re all experiencing some level of the quashing of ideas,” said Hall.  

Hall is working with other parents to raise awareness about the library’s free card program.