Radio Program: “How Schools are Responding to Iowa’s New Book Ban”

From Iowa Public Radio:

Last year, an Iowa law that required schools to remove books that contain a depiction of a ‘sex act’ was put on pause by a temporary injunction, but an appeals court decision has cleared the way for the law to go into effect.

A decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed the temporary injunction on Iowa’s book ban law last week. The law contains a provision that requires schools to remove books from the school library, classrooms and curricula that contain any description or image of a sex act.On this Talk of Iowa, education reporter Samantha Hernandez and data visualization specialist Tim Webber of the Des Moines Register share their reporting on the bill.

Then host Charity Nebbe is joined Christy Hickman, general counsel of the Iowa State Education Association. Hickman was involved in the lawsuit that challenged the law, and ultimately resulted in the temporary injunction. English teacher Shannon Dykstra also joins the program. Dykstra shares why he teaches The Color Purple, and shares his concerns about the law.

Later in the hour, severe storms moved across the state of Iowa this summer. Zach Shumm and Adam Janke of ISU discuss the impact severe weather may have had on pollinators and other wildlife.

Guests:

• Samantha Hernandez, education reporter, Des Moines Register
• Tim Webber, data visualization specialist, Des Moines Register
• Christy Hickman, general counsel, Iowa State Education Association
• Shannon Dykstra, English teacher, Mason City Community School District
• Zach Shumm, director of plant and insect diagnostic clinic, Iowa State University
• Adam Janke, Wildlife Extension Specialist, Iowa State University

Listen to the Program

Filed under: Data Files, Libraries, News, School Libraries