Latest / The Radio From Hell Show - Best Of / Cindy Mitchell Interview for April 25th, 2025

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Cindy Mitchell Interview for April 25th, 2025 · The Radio From Hell Show - Best Of

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: All right, longtime front of the program. Cindy Mitchell has
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: joined us in the studio. Cindy is a librarian at
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: a middle school. Where are you a librarian in the
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Jordan School District? Jordan School District? And are you? And
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: you're upset about something? And I know it's about a
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: book that's they want to take off the shelves.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Right right, So first of all, I want to say
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: that the information that I'm talking about today is publicly
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: available or should be, and that all of the opinions
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: that I have are my own. You're not a spokesbody else, okay.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: And also today I was already taking a personal day,
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: oh okay for other for other things, all right, So
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: this is not something special, all right?
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: So two days ago in our inboxes, we received a
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: notice that said that we had to remove three books
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: from our shelves. Speak by Laurie Hall Sanderson. I don't know.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: Where's the okay came right here?
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: Okay, Speak by Lauria Halli Sanderson, The graphic novel of Speak,
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: also by Laurie Hall Sanderson, And Story of a Girl
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  Speaker 2: by Sarah Zar who happens to live here in Utah.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: Oh Okay?
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  Speaker 2: Yes, and both of the all three books are award
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: winning books, and we were told that they had been challenged,
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: they had been deemed dejective sensitive materials according to can
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: Ivory's Law, and that they we need to remove them
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  Speaker 2: from our shelves immediately.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: I know, I don't know these books. Could you tell
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: us a little bit about them? Oh? Yes.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: So both of them actually start out with the stories
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: of thirteen year old girls.
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: The speak is about a girl who is and this
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: is sensitive material. It is because it does mention that
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: she was raped during a house party during the summer, okay,
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: and so she's starting school. We don't know that that
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: is what has happened to her, but everybody is mad
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: at her, and no one's speaking to her because they
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: know that she.
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  Speaker 1: Called the cops.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: Ah, okay, because that's what you're told to do, right,
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: And so we see her during this year spiraling downward
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: and downward and downward until something happens and she is
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: able to find hope.
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  Speaker 1: So the objective material is the fact that she's been raped.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: Well, we don't know what specifically was considered to be objective.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: I have re read the book myself, and according to
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: the can Ivory law, which equates school books with pornography.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: There is absolutely nothing in the book, as far as
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: I'm concerned, that would meet that standard.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: So, and you are a librarian. You went to school
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: for this.
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  Speaker 2: You I have a master library and I've been at
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: my school for twenty seven years now, and part of
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: your job.
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  Speaker 3: Is to be able to discern in books what you
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: think is appropriate and not appropriate.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: Yes, exactly.
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  Speaker 3: Now.
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  Speaker 2: Story of a Girl is about a girl who, when
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: she was thirteen, was in a sexual relationship with a
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  Speaker 2: high school senior.
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  Speaker 1: Way too young, way too young, And that's probably part
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: of the story.
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: Yes, And now it's three years later, she's still in
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: a terrible family situation. She has started this relationship up again,
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: and it's her finally maturing into the idea that this
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  Speaker 2: is not a way to get what she needs in
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: her life.
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  Speaker 1: So a positive message, a positive.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: Message, both of them extremely positive messages. Yes, I had
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: the chance to talk to Laurie Halise Anderson over the
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: course of a day because she actually came to our
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: library conference a few years ago. And the outpouring that
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: she gets every time that she speaks, and the letters
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: that she gets all the time are from girls and boys,
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: men and women, men who tell her how much their
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: book meant to.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: Thank you for now. I opened the one book, the
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: graphic novel, and the page I turned to it's showed
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: two girls in a It was a you know, it's
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: a drawings in a locker room getting getting putting on,
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: a brawl and stuff. But you know it's from the back.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: But they say boobs and butts, right like kids that
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  Speaker 1: ain't like Yeah, so they're talking about boobs and books
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: you don't want your boobs to show or something like that.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: So this is deemed this is deemed indecent by some people,
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: and they want these books taken out of the school.
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: Well, why do you think it's important for them not
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: to be taken out of the school.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: Because well, first of all, I would ask any parent
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  Speaker 2: if they don't want their child to read this, do
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  Speaker 2: they have a cell phone that you're not monitoring and
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: have locked down?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah?
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  Speaker 2: Because the access to all of it is immediate. And
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  Speaker 2: just like that one scene that you saw was in
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  Speaker 2: the locker room with the boobs in the butts, have
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: you stepped into the hallway at any school, even elementary schools?
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: I interviewed a group of eighth graders recently for something
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: completely different, and their one complaint, number one complaint was
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: the amount of swearing in the hallway.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: Well, Cindy, they're getting it from these books learned. So
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: we need to we need to make sure we get
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: everything taken care of. Here. You're here with an objective
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  Speaker 1: in mind.
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: I am so. Just because the books have been ordered
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: to be removed from the shelves in the Jordan School
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: District doesn't mean that that has to be how it happens.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: What happens. There is an appeals process. You do have
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: to be a teacher, well, an employee of the district,
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: a parent who has a student in the district, a student,
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: or a board member.
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  Speaker 1: And what district are we talking about, Jordan School District.
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: In order to send an appeal to the and then
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: the board would have to in an open meeting discuss
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: the book.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: How do you send an appeal?
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: Well, there is an online Google form which I have
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: given you the link to, and then hopefully you guys
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: can tweet it out and post it on your Facebook.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: And so you just fill out that Google form. I
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: would suggest that you only do it if you know
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: the books, so that you can talk about your experiences
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: with the book, and you're the no.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: But you have doesn't matter. You can't do it, Gina,
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: you're not in the Jordan distry.
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: But I will read them because I'm curious about it.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: Thank you. Well, b just be aware that they say
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: boobs and butts and now I want to find that.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: So the book challenge, the the I want to get
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: the the Google document is Katie will make sure it
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: gets posted on all of that. Well, it's a terrible
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: you are. We'll have it available, all right. Well, but
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: then there's your blog, of course there is. Do you
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: have that information there?
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: Well, this is where it gets a little bit decked, okay,
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  Speaker 2: because I know that I could be setting myself up
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: as a target.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: We don't want to get you in troubles, all right, then,
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: all right, so we won't mention it.
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: Well, we'll we'll put on our social media where you
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: can find out more information about this.
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: How about that? Thank you? Let's do that. Well, good luck?
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: Thanks.
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  Speaker 1: I mean it's here's a texture that puts perfectly. One
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  Speaker 1: of the best parts about reading is identifying with the
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: characters and feelings seen and understood perfect we have here,
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  Speaker 1: so yes, all right, Well, thank you,