Students across Davis County lost access to 44 titles pulled from school library shelves under a 2024 state law. Two organizations are working to put those books back into community hands, with giveaway events planned for Davis County.

The Utah LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce's Read Between the Bans program has given away 671 books as of October 2026, according to the organization's website. Ogden Pride cut the ribbon on its Banned Wagon Mobile Library on Saturday, Oct. 3, at the Ogden Pride Festival, with formal monthly lending operations set to begin in January 2027, as first reported by the Standard-Examiner.

The 44 titles were removed from every Utah public school library under HB 29, a law passed in 2024 that mandates statewide removal of a book if three districts, or two districts and five charter schools, designate it as pornographic or indecent, according to KUER. The books remain available in public libraries and bookstores.

Liz Pitts, president and CEO of the Utah LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce, told the Standard-Examiner the campaign partners with independent booksellers across the state. Donors can buy banned titles from participating shops or contribute money. Ninety percent of donated funds go directly to purchasing books from local sellers, with the remaining 10% covering campaign costs, according to the chamber's website.

"We're going to keep doing it until there are no more banned books in Utah," Pitts told the Standard-Examiner.

The chamber had distributed 534 books before the Oct. 3 Ogden Pride kickoff. More were given away over the festival weekend, bringing the running total to 671. The chamber's website lists planned Davis County and Tooele County giveaway events for 2026, though dates have not been announced.

Sean Childers-Gray, Ogden Pride's president and festival director, told the Standard-Examiner the Banned Wagon is a converted enclosed trailer he had been developing for a few years after a brick-and-mortar location proved too expensive. The Standard-Examiner reported the trailer holds upward of 1,900 books. Ogden Pride's own website describes the collection as more than 1,500. The library stocks every title on Utah's banned book list along with other works centering LGBTQ+, Indigenous and BIPOC voices.

Childers-Gray said the mobile library will host monthly lending days starting in January 2027, beginning at a UCC church parking lot in Ogden. The Banned Wagon aims to reach rural areas and communities where young people may not have easy access to a public library or pride center.

Pitts said the issue comes down to access. School libraries are often the first place students can get books on their own, she told the Standard-Examiner, and not all students can reach a public library or afford to buy a book.

The Banned Wagon's first monthly lending day has not been publicly scheduled. Ogden Pride said locations will be announced on its website.