Banned Books Boosters
📚 Riley Gaines joins library board · Vanderbilt entertains Trump offer · The Night Watch · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone. In light of Riley Gaines' appointment to a seat on the Sumner County library board, we re-upped an article from last year on how your dollars support anti-American books... Speaking of education, Vanderbilt deliberates over accepting Trump's deal... And much more!
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How taxpayer money supports liberals' art
From Christine Eriksen
The culture war's wholesale destruction of neutral civic spaces continues apace, and it's no secret that libraries are on the front lines. This is on full display in Louisville, KY, where branches in Fern Creek and Middletown have been shuttered, and more rural branches, which homeschoolers rely on for educational resources, face constant, existential budgetary concerns, yet space and funding for progressive ideology can always be found.
Much has been made of Drag Queen Story Hour, which aims to “put the rainbow in reading,” but a lesser-known phenomenon lurks underneath the library’s knitting groups, seed exchanges, and adult literacy programs: a patronage network designed to turn taxpayer funding and apolitical branch donations into big payouts for zeitgeist-conforming authors, forcing libraries to struggle under the burden of digital catalog expenses.
Public libraries purchase eBook licenses for $55 a pop. The licenses are good for two years or 26 loans. This shocking number is a consequence of the uneasy compromise reached between publishers and libraries to balance the non-degradability of digital files compared to paper books (which, if popular, would need to be continually re-purchased). In other words, eBooks are big business—big business that appears to benefit one side of the political spectrum.
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🖋️ Edited by Megan Podsiedlik.
📚 Riley Gaines Turns The Page in Sumner Yesterday, popular activist Riley Gaines was appointed to the Sumner County Library Board to fill one of two vacated positions. “Tennessee banned tax dollars from funding woke gender ideology, but my own county’s library board is ignoring it,” posted Gaines on X yesterday afternoon. “These books (and others) were challenged by concerned parents in February, but to no [avail]. Remove this filth from our libraries!”
Gaines included pictures of two books available at the library that are marketed toward children three to eight years old: Fred Gets Dressed by Peter Brown, a story about a boy who loves being naked but, after trying on his parents' clothes, discovers he likes dressing like his mother; and Call Me Max by trans writer Kyle Lukoff, an “introduction to what it means to be transgender.”
The Board has been in gridlock since rejecting a ban on transgender-themed books in August. According to News2, half of the members did not attend a meeting last week, forcing it to disband without a quorum to vote.
“Currently, there are 9 positions on the board,” continued Gaines on her X post. “[One] has been empty for several months. The commission and the committee on committees refuses to fill it.” Gaines also insinuated that the non-conservative members of the Board refuse to show up and vote since they will have to comply with state law and ban certain inappropriate books.
🏫 Trump’s Higher Ed Compact Yesterday, Chancellor of Vanderbilt University Daniel Diermeier sent out an update regarding ongoing conversations with the Trump administration about its recently proposed Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education. Diermeier explained that the universities involved are “invited to provide input” on the compact.
“Despite reporting to the contrary, we have not been asked to accept or reject the draft compact,” reads the letter. “Rather, we have been asked to provide feedback and comments as part of an ongoing dialogue, and that is our intention.”
Diermeier reiterated that Vanderbilt remains committed to institutional neutrality: “Institutional neutrality means that the university’s leadership will refrain from commenting on political matters unless they directly affect our core purpose of providing transformative education and conducting pathbreaking research.”
The Chancellor also encouraged input from students, faculty, family members, and alumni. “Our North Star has always been that academic freedom, free expression, and independence are essential for universities to make their vital and singular contributions to society,” wrote Diermeier.
Meanwhile, former Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander—who was once president of the University of Tennessee and is currently a Vanderbilt trustee—has criticized Trump’s proposed compact, calling it federal overreach. Alexander says the compact would create a national board of trustees for America’s colleges and universities and warned against the expansion of such federal power that Republicans ultimately wouldn’t want Democrats to inherit.
Instead, the former governor thinks the administration should focus on putting a stop to “Washington meddling” when it comes to education. “Since the Department of Education was created in 1979, Republicans have advocated eliminating it, and now President Trump actually is trying to do so,” wrote Alexander. “Good for him. In K-12 education, presidential advocacy of excellence and academic freedom should replace the department.”
🌃 Watching The Night Watch Back in March, the Metro Council created a nighttime code enforcement team in Nashville to address after-hours issues like loud music, illegal dumping, and unlicensed businesses. According to Councilmember Erin Evans, Metro is still working to mobilize the enforcement team and address violations that happen after 4:30 p.m. when the Codes department is closed.
“I have spoken with several of you about issues that never seem to get resolved because of the time of day they’re happening,” wrote Evans in her latest District 12 Dispatch newsletter. “While this team is starting out small, I am hopeful that as soon as training is finished, we’ll have a way to handle residents and businesses who are in violation after hours.”
DEVELOPMENT
- Sports bar eyed for WeHo, Green Hills lands restaurant (NBJ)
- GBT Realty buys Brentwood shopping center (NBJ)
- American Signature Furniture exits Nashville market after 20 years (Post)
- West Coast titan acquires Gulch tower (Post)
THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week here.
📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.
🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.
👨🏻🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.
TONIGHT
🪕 45 RPM @ Station Inn, 8p, $20, Info
🎸 Blues Traveler @ Ryman Auditorium, 7p, $59+, Info
🎸 THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW 50th Anniversary Spectacular Tour @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 7:30p, $62+, Info
🎸 Honky Tonk Tuesday @ Eastside Bowl, 8p, $10, Info
+ two-step lessons @ 7p, The Cowpokes @ 8p
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