Hi! I’m Hayley, a junior and this is my 3rd year in the radio program. My podcast is focused on spreading awareness about banned books, as this past year had the highest number of book challenges in the history of the American Library Association’s tracking.
What was your greatest challenge making this?
In this podcast, the most challenging part was scripting it out and planning the flow of how I would tell the story of Banned Books Club. Though in the end, it was rewarding when I was able to share it with the members of Banned Book Club and I’m happy I was able to capture their story in a meaningful and informative way. Let’s continue to spread awareness about banned books! Resources such as the ALA’s website, Marshall’s Library, and King’s Books Banned Book Club are great places to start.
What made you want to create this piece?
With over 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022, I wanted to create this piece to bring attention to this pressing issue. I had the pleasure of interviewing the longtime coordinator of Banned Books Club, David Raff. The club has been meeting for over 17 years inside Tacoma’s Kings Books. Raff emphasizes the importance of reading and discussing challenged books, which is helpful advice that everyone, especially students, need to be reminded of.