The number of books dropped from school reading lists and public library shelves is the highest since the organization, PEN America, started keeping track. Fueled mainly by conservative pressure groups and elected leaders at the school board and state legislative levels, the challenges to books target what opponents consider obscenity and themes that are too mature for younger readers. But books by Native writers that cover issues like race, social justice, and historical accounts that go against more patriotic portrayals are also caught up in the attempts to control what people can read. We’ll hear about the trends for removing books for public view.

GUESTS

Allison Waukau (Menominee and Navajo), American Indian Library Association member at large

Joaquin Muñoz (Pascua Yaqui Tribe), professor of Indigenous education at the University of British Columbia

Odia Wood-Krueger (Métis), educational consultant at Wood Krueger Initiatives, LLC

Casandra Hanson (Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs), owner of Sahaptin Stories