That Librarian

June 1, 2024
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(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 10, 2024
“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.

Starred review from July 1, 2024
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.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 21, 2024

A taste of the emotional toll librarians, teachers, and library staff have been subject to for the better part of a decade in regard to book banning. After the pandemic began to recede, groups started seeking to destroy reputations of libraries as institutions, as well as librarians and library workers, based on out-of-context, flawed, and often inaccurate bits of information, in the name of protecting children. Amanda Jones became a target after publicly speaking out against book banning in her town. In this memoir she relates her experiences since then, including her decision to sue her harassers for defamation, and also offers readers advice for what they can do in their own communities. This book is specific to Jones's experience, and her voice is strong throughout. Whether readers are librarians and can resonate with parts of Jones's story, or they've picked up this book because they are genuinely curious about what's really happening with book banning in America's schools and libraries, they will find themselves nodding along at certain moments and gasping at others. Back matter includes the full text of Jones's speech at the public library, which was the catalyst for the experiences she writes about in this book. And like any good librarian, she includes sources. VERDICT A template for those currently serving in the culture war on how to respond, react, and stand up for intellectual freedom.-Samantha Hull

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2024

Jones, a School Library Journal School Librarian of the Year, writes about her experiences fighting for the right to read. In the face of campaigns fueled by shadowy money and hard right politicians, she fought back, suing those who waged attacks against her and the United States' readers. Prepub Alert.

Copyright 2024 Library Journal

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.