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Woman creates pop-up libraries around metro Atlanta to expand access to banned books

Aileen Loy wants to create a banned bookmobile to reach more people across the county.

ATLANTA — A woman in the metro area is working to give people access to controversial books as there continues to be a surge in attempted bans and restrictions at schools and public libraries across the country.

Aileen Loy's love for books began when she was a young girl growing up in Nashville, Tennessee. While sitting in her workspace in East Atlanta, she explained how books provided her an escape from her traditional upbringing. 

"I hung out at the library every summer since I was in kindergarten," she said. 

That love for reading is something she's carried with her into adulthood. This is why, she said, the steady increase in challenges and bans on books by school districts across America frustrates her.

"To find people willing to stand in the way of that and willing to impede the people's right to read or freedom to read whatever, you know, whatever they come across, whatever appeals to them. I have a problem with that."

She has set up small drop boxes, called the Little Free Contentious Library, all over metro Atlanta that are full of books that have been challenged and contested by school districts. 

She started the project in 2020 with five abandoned newspaper stacks. Today, she left more than 20 across metro Atlanta and a few in other neighboring states. 

"It's about, you know, giving people access to as many books as they want or as many books as they can get out there," she said.

She fills every small library with a "starter set" of books. She allows people to take them for free and keep them if they choose. 

Loy purchases the books herself, often going to discount stores, garage sales, and other locations to collect what she can to keep replenishing the titles in each of her little libraries. 

Loy's childhood memory of a bookmobile that would come to her neighborhood once a week is fueling her next step in the project. 

"I want to do a bookmobile and I want to do it so it'll be all banned books. We're gonna hit the road, do multistate tours," she said.

Loy started an online fundraiser to help her get funds to buy a van so she can convert it and begin delivering books to areas where there are more restrictions. 

The American Library Association documented more than 1,200 challenges against books in 2022, nearly double the record from 2021. The organization has been keeping track of the trends for the last 20 years.

Loy is concerned that the number will only continue to grow. In addition to the books with known challenges, she's also stated collecting books that she feels may be targeted in the future, so she's prepared to give readers what they're looking for. 

"Let's just make sure we have all we have everything available at any time," she said.

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