After a Tennessee school board removed Art Spiegelman’s Maus from its eight-grade curriculum, the Knoxville retailer Nirvana Comics responded by offering to provide a free copy of the graphic novel to any student who requested one. The fund-raiser to support their effort has now exceeded $100,000.
The McMinn County school board voted unanimously to remove the book from the eighth-grade curriculum, citing foul language and a single instance of nudity (see “Tennessee School Board Pulls ‘Maus’ from 8th Grade History Class”). The vote came despite the testimony of three instructional supervisors that the book was essential to the lessons they had designed. On January 27, the day the story made national news, Nirvana Comics posted on its Facebook page that they would loan or give the book for free to any student who asked.
Their offer attracted nationwide attention, and the demand was so great that Nirvana set up a GoFundMe to expand the reach of their donations. The initial goal was $20,000; as of this writing, 3,300 donations have been received, totaling almost $105,000. The proceeds will go toward purchasing and sending out more copies of Maus, as well as a parents’ guide to discussing the book with children.
Source: ICv2
