‘Let’s just flood the libraries’: Mt. Juliet couple donates 500+ Christian books to schools amid book banning debate
MT JULIET, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Mt. Juliet couple hopes to flood out books they consider obscene and pornographic, by donating over 500 gospel-centered books to high school libraries. All of this comes after multiple books have been pulled from Wilson County high school libraries.
“I went out and I told Dave we need to flood the schools,’” Holly Ashley said.
For the past year, book banning has become a focal point during Wilson County School Board meetings. However, instead of taking part in the debate, Dave and Holly Ashley created a campaign called The Shine the Light.
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“Instead of removing [books], let’s just flood the libraries with some positive and theological truth,” Dave said.
On their own dime, the Ashleys donated dozens of books to five Wilson County high school libraries written by Christian authors.
“And it’s just not theologians’, former educations, people that have lived and experienced the homosexual community,” Holly said.
On the four-page list, titles include “What Does the Bible Teach about Homosexuality? A Short Book on Biblical Sexuality”, “The Excellent Wife”, and “It’s Good to be a Man.”
“I don’t like a lot of the books, I’ve looked at all the titles, I don’t like the messages,” Sarah Moore, a Wilson County resident, said.
Moore is a frequent flyer at school board meetings and speaks against the removal of books.
“We made this mature reader list for a reason, which gives us parental control. So why are we still having this argument?” Moore said.
The Ashleys said they are also against book banning and told News 2 this is their approach to the ongoing debate.
“And we attached a letter that says if you don’t put the books on the shelf please return them. If there is a religious reason or if there is a civil rights violation then we will pursue our options as Americans and take this to the judicial system,” Holly said.
The Ashleys told News 2 that it cost over $7,000 to donate the books.
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Officials with Wilson County Schools declined to do an on-camera interview, but pointed to their policy.
Each book will need to be read and reviewed and then it’s up to the individual school to decide if they will place the books on their shelves.
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