In January Tennessee made national news when the Pulitzer Prize winning Holocaust memoir Maus was banned by the McMinn County school board. This was just the beginning of a much larger debate about books, obscenity and “age-appropriateness” that has been raging across the state.
In this episode, host Khalil Ekulona sits down with WPLN News political reporter Blaise Gainey to learn more about three recent bills that would ban or limit books in schools.Then we hear from librarians, authors, parents and students on how these bills could impact education in Middle Tennessee.
Today’s episode is also the debut of our new segment @ us, where our digital lead Anna Gallegos-Cannon responds to the comments, questions and feedback from listeners.
Guests:
- Blaise Gainey, WPLN political reporter
- Lisa Bubert, children’s librarian at the Nashville Public Library – Madison branch
- Terry Vo, board president of API Middle Tennessee
- Christina Amaya Sandoval, junior and library aide at Hume-Fogg High School
- Kiese Laymon, author of the award-winning memoir Heavy
- Greg Howard, Nashville-based young adult and middle-grade fiction author
Resources and additional reading:
WPLN: Librarians and school boards could face criminal penalties if ‘obscene’ books wind up in schools
API Middle Tennessee book drive information
The lead producer on this episode is Rose Gilbert. Follow her on Instagram or Twitter.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM