That librarian : the fight against book banning in America

That librarian The fight against book banning in America

Amanda Jones

Book - 2024

One of the things small town librarian Amanda Jones values most about books is how they can affirm a young person's sense of self. So in 2022, when she caught wind of a local public hearing that would discuss "book content," she knew what was at stake. Schools and libraries nationwide have been bombarded by demands for books with LGTBQ+ references, discussions of racism, and more to be purged from the shelves. Amanda would be damned if her community were to ban stories representing minority groups. She spoke out that night at the meeting. Days later, she woke up to a nightmare that is still ongoing. Amanda Jones has been called a groomer, a pedo, and a porn-pusher; she has faced death threats and attacks from strangers and f...riends alike. Her decision to support a collection of books with diverse perspectives made her a target for extremists using book banning campaigns--funded by dark money organizations and advanced by hard right politicians--in a crusade to make America more white, straight, and "Christian." But Amanda Jones wouldn't give up without a fight: she sued her harassers for defamation and urged others to join her in the resistance. Mapping the book banning crisis occurring all across the nation, That Librarian draws the battle lines in the war against equity and inclusion, calling book lovers everywhere to rise in defense of our readers.

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2nd Floor New Shelf 025.213/Jones (NEW SHELF) Due Jan 2, 2025
Subjects
Challenged books > United States.
Prohibited books > United States.
Censorship > United States.
Censorship.
Autobiographies (literary genre)
Informational works.
Autobiographies.
Genres
Autobiographies (literary genre)
Informational works
Autobiographies
Published
New York : Bloomsbury Publishing [2024]
Language
English
Main Author
Amanda Jones (author)
Physical Description
269 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-269).
ISBN
9781639733538
  • 1. Liars and Buzzards and Trolls, Oh My
  • 2. How We Got Here
  • 3. Here, There, Everywhere
  • 4. WWJD: What Would Judy Do?
  • 5. (Wo)man in the Mirror
  • 6. Hell Hath No Fury Like a Librarian Scorned
  • 7. The Battle Begins: Initial Court Proceedings
  • 8. Are You There Michelle? It's Me, Amanda: It's Hard to Go High When the Haters Go So Low
  • 9. The Mob Song
  • 10. Some People Are Ride or Die. Some People Aren't.
  • 11. The Longevity of Hate
  • 12. Think of the Children
  • 13. It's Raining Sin, Hallelujah
  • 14. It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times
  • 15. What You Can Do in Your Own Community
  • 16. Don't Let Anyone Dull Your Sparkle
  • My July 19, 2022, Speech to the Livingston Parish Library Board of Control
  • Acknowledgments
  • Bibliography
Review by Booklist Review

Over the past several years, references to "that librarian" have meant school librarian Amanda Jones. In 2022 Jones spoke up in favor of the Freedom to Read at her local public library in Louisiana's Livingston Parish. As a result of this speech, which appends Jones' memoir, she became the target of a swift and organized attack from far-right agitators who swept in from out of town, as well as a number of people she had known her whole life: parents of students and community members she had counted on as part of her close-knit, Deep South, Christian world. In detailing her harrowing experiences, Jones takes readers from that library board room to the confines of her own bedroom where she is beset with anxiety and grief to courtrooms in hopes of defending a claim of defamation against the main perpetrators of her attacks. She is frank, open, emotionally raw, and unwavering. What she endured is every librarian's worst nightmare, yet she perseveres, offering tips and playbooks for how readers can defend books about LGBTQIA+ topics of interest, sexual health, and more in their own public libraries. A must-read in order to understand the deep and lasting impact of online smear campaigns and enduring need to stand up for books.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Jones is an inspiration to everyone combating book bans, and her memoir/guidebook should be available to all to help us defend our right to read.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

"Hell hath no fury like a librarian scorned," asserts middle-school librarian Jones in her stinging debut. In 2022, Jones attended a library board meeting in Lafeyette, La., to defend making books with LGBTQ themes available to children and teens. A few days later, two men who also attended the meeting started harassing Jones on Facebook, calling her a pedophile and a porn pusher ("As if a kid could be looking for The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and whoops, there's The Joy of Sex," Jones writes), which unleashed a flood of bullying messages and death threats. Jones sued both men for defamation, but a judge dismissed her case on the grounds that she was a "limited public figure." In tandem with these events, Jones catalogs other censorship fights across the country, giving kudos to librarians including Roxana Caivano in Roxbury, N.J., who have also spoken out against book bans. Jones's prose is workmanlike, but her message is bracing, and she delivers it with admirable fire and focus. This is an inspiring portrait of resilience and a galvanizing call to "speak up for intellectual freedom." Photos. Agent: Sara N. Fisk, Tobias Agency. (Aug.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review

A memoir by a middle school librarian from Louisiana who fought censorship. After speaking up against censorship at her local public library board meeting in Livingston, Louisiana, in 2022, Jones, the former president of the Louisiana Association of School Librarians, began receiving threatening emails and attacks via social media. In response, she filed a defamation lawsuit against the two men she contends were at the center of those attacks. "I chose to take a stand, and that decision changed the trajectory of my life. I chose to fight back," she writes. "It was a hard decision that I did not take lightly. It has taken an emotional, physical, and mental toll on me and my family." Nonetheless, she notes, "I have zero regrets." In this straightforward narrative, Jones shares her point of view, details her experiences, including the status of her lawsuit, and offers advice to other librarians who may find themselves in similar situations. At the end of the book, she includes the transcript of the speech she gave at the board meeting. At times, Jones's narrative is repetitive, and her raw anger often detracts from her intended message and "newfound purpose…to inspire and support others like me." She acknowledges that she has "wrestled with how much is too much when describing these people and the hatred I've felt, and sometimes still feel, about them." Despite a few flaws, she offers sound advice about how individuals from a variety of viewpoints can better educate themselves regarding library content, purchasing processes, and reconsideration policies. Ultimately, she writes, "everyone in the United States should stand up for intellectual freedom and stand against censorship, regardless of party line. You start banning one thing, and you're on a slippery slope to banning everything." A useful book for readers interested in better understanding a persistent problem. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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