Fighting Book Bans and Censorship: Brooky Parks’ Journey

Across the United States, school districts and public libraries are under pressure to quietly remove books about race, gender, and LGBTQ+ lives. Behind every “book challenge” is a real person forced to decide whether to cave to censorship or fight back.In this revamped episode, Chalin speaks with Brooky Parks, a librarian who was disciplined and sidelined simply for putting inclusive books on the shelves. Brooky walks us through what actually happens inside a district when a book is targeted, how coordinated these campaigns really are, and what it cost her—personally and professionally—to push back.Together, they explore how communities can organize, what legal protections exist, and why access to stories is a frontline issue for democracy, not just education. This conversation is both a case study and a playbook for anyone who wants to resist book bans in their own backyard.