Review: “That Librarian” (Amanda Jones)

✭ That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America
Amanda Jones. Bloomsbury Publishing, $29 Trade Paper (269p). ISBN: 9781639733538.
August 2024. Amazon | Kindle | Bookshop

In times of peril, in times of censorship, in times of book banning, there are those who choose to stand in the gap. Amanda Jones, teacher librarian in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, is just such a person. Doing so has resulted in death threats, loss of perceived friends, and concerns about her current employment. That Librarian is the story of Amanda Jones’ on-going journey as well as a guide for the library community on what to do should the book banners come for you.

The short version: Jones attended and spoke at a public library meeting in her community in 2022. She shared her concerns about the topic of the meeting; the content of books in the public library. It is important to note that this was not her employer; she is employed in a school district. This was the local public library and she was one of a number of speakers.

Shortly thereafter, Citizens for a New Louisiana came for her. They accused her on Facebook of working to “…”keep sexually erotic and pornographic materials in the kids’ section” of the local library. Out of all of the speakers from that library meeting, they specifically identified Ms. Jones and pointed out that she was a school librarian and named her school. The inference being that she was doing much the same in her school library.

As a result of the words spoken at that library meeting and the many, many posts and responses on Facebook attacking her, Ms. Jones began to receive death threats. It reached a point where she was being called “…a groomer, a pedo, and a porn-pusher” based on a campaign of hate from those on the right.

Ms. Jones continues the battle to regain her reputation in this on-going fight. She has sued the leaders of the campaign in court. She lost the first round in a defamation law suit but Jones continues onward. She has founded an organization, Livingston Parish Library Alliance, to support her local library and has become a national spokesperson on this issue.

Jones is still attacked daily on social media. In her book, it becomes clear how much she has gone through, but there is also a real sense of resilience and a quest for truth on her side.

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That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America

Hardcover Book
Jones, Amanda (Author)
English (Publication Language)
288 Pages – 08/27/2024 (Publication Date) – Bloomsbury Publishing (Publisher)

That Librarian is the book that every librarian and teacher, and those that oversee librarians and teachers, should read and share. It’s about banning books certainly but it’s also about the current political climate and about what is happening in your community and around the country.

Importantly, if this can happen to Amanda Jones, this can happen to any librarian, teacher, or school administrator in any school in any state. This book is your starting point toward understanding what this really is about and how you can protect yourself and support others in this fight.

Who is Amanda Jones?
“Amanda Jones has been an educator for twenty-three years, at the same middle school that she attended as a child. She has won numerous awards for her work in school libraries, including School Library Journal Librarian of the Year. A sought-after keynote speaker, Amanda is a frequent volunteer for state and national library associations, as well as a co-founder of the Livingston Parish Library Alliance and founding member of Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship. She lives in Livingston Parish, Louisiana.”

QUOTES
“Amanda Jones started getting death threats, all for standing up for our right to read…but she’s not stopped fighting against book bans, or stopped advocating for access to diverse stories.”

—Oprah Winfrey, in a speech at the 2023 National Book Awards.

“As an author whose novels have been banned in hundreds of school districts after falsely being cited for explicit, I have been waiting for a book like this one. We writers are well aware that the foot soldiers in this spreading civil war are librarians, who are threatened personally and profoundly by those who call for widespread book bans. Amanda Jones clearly outlines how we got here, who’s leading this false charge against qualified educators, media specialists, and authors—and most importantly, explores the steps we all must take to make the voice of truth and reason louder than their caterwauling.”

—Jodi Picoult, best-selling author

RESOURCES
Amanda Jones Website

X.com (Twitter)

Link Tree

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That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America