Free banned books will be distributed in Nashville
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Photo: Courtesy of Penguin Random House
The Banned Wagon is coming to Nashville to give out free copies of banned books.
- The visit comes amid a growing number of challenges and bans in Tennessee.
Driving the news: Penguin Random House's Banned Wagon Tour — in partnership with the Freedom to Read Foundation, PEN America and the Free Little Library — will stop at The Bookshop in East Nashville on Tuesday.
- The wagon will be outside the store from 3-6pm.
Why it matters: Tennessee libraries have faced increased scrutiny in recent years, with challenges and book bans becoming more common. (The Nashville Public Library recently responded to the influx of challenges and bans with a new library card that proclaims "I read banned books.")
- Penguin Random House said in a press release it hopes the wagon will inspire local communities to "protect the freedom to read" and fight censorship.
Details: Organizers plan to give away hundreds of books that have been banned or challenged around the country.
- "The Handmaid's Tale," "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" and "The Kite Runner" are among the selections.
- The Bookshop is also encouraging attendees to buy books that will be donated to local nonprofits.
What they're saying: "We have always believed in the freedom to read," Bookshop owner Joelle Herr tells Axios.
- "There's some patterns in the books that tend to get challenged and banned. They tend to be from writers of color and from writers in the LGBTQ+ community."
- Reading those authors can be a validating experience for marginalized groups and can improve empathy for the broader community, Herr says.
The big picture: The wagon rolls into town amid an increase in book bans at U.S. schools that are now spilling over to public libraries, Axios' Sareen Habeshian reports.
- Tennessee has passed multiple laws increasing scrutiny on school libraries, including a 2022 law that gives a politically appointed panel the power to overrule local school boards and remove books from school libraries.
Flashback: Multiple local efforts in Tennessee have gotten national attention, including the McMinn County school board removing "Maus," a graphic novel about the Holocaust, from its curriculum last year.
- This August, the Rutherford County library system removed four books with LGBTQ+ themes from its shelves.
The bottom line: "It's silencing a great portion of the population, and definitely voices that people need access to," Herr says of the bans.
- "Everybody has the right to see themselves in what they read."