Kasey Meehan is the Freedom to Read Program Director at PEN America, leading our initiatives to protect the right of students to freely access literature in schools. Previously, Kasey served as the Associate Director of Postsecondary Policy at a mission-driven education research organization in Philadelphia, Research for Action. Kasey’s research centers students, educators, and school leaders’ experiences in identifying strategies for reform and capturing emerging best practices and strives to connect research to policy and program change. Kasey holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and a MPA from the Fels Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, along with a Certificate in Politics.
Publications
“Book Banning”
A Fresh Face in Hell with Jonathan Evison, November 2024
Book bans have tripled in the last year
Bookaholic, October 2024
Utah lawmakers ban 13 books statewide. Could more states do the same?
NPR, September 2024
Don’t Say Rape: How the Book Banning Movement Is Censoring Sexual Violence
Ms. Magazine, March 2024
A secret shelf of banned books thrives in a Texas school, under the nose of censors
NPR, February 2024