A popular saying is that public libraries are the last bastion of true democracy. But in recent months, Republican state lawmakers and local elected boards in states including Texas and Missouri have threatened libraries as a way to control what materials patrons can and cannot access. But these funding threats didn’t come out of nowhere. They often start with book bans in public schools. In today’s episode of The Weeds, we dig into threats to defund public libraries and the growing movement to ban books at schools and libraries across the country. Cody Croan, an administrative librarian in Missouri, talks about what he’s seen on the ground, and Kasey Meehan, the program director for Freedom to Read at PEN America, tells us what this new level of censorship means for American democracy. 

Read More:

Why Republicans want to defund public libraries and ban books | Vox 

The “anti-intellectual attack” on higher ed will take years to undo | Vox 

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Fabiola Cineas, host

Sofi LaLonde, producer

Cristian Ayala, engineer

A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts

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