Ms. Amanda Jones is a great American. She has been an elementary school teacher and librarian in Louisiana for two decades. In 2023 she was awarded the American Association of School Librarians' Intellectual Freedom Award and the American Library Association's Paul Howard Award for Courage—the latter group awards "an individual who has exhibited unusual courage for the benefit of library programs or services.”
She has over time fought increasingly against book-banning forces. For her labors she has became persona non grata to the leader of a radically conservative group, Citizens for a New Louisiana, Michael Lunsford, and he has and they have repeatedly defamed her. Ditto, Mr. Ryan Thames, the administrator of a Facebook page, Bayou State of Mind, that needs to be seen to be believed. He posted an image of Ms Jones that stated that she was "advocating teaching sex to 11-year-olds." Mr. Lunsford’s Citizens for a New Louisiana group posted an image of Ms Jones being targeted in a red circle with a white border and with accompanying text that read “Why is she fighting so hard to keep sexually erotic and pornographic materials in the kid's [sic] section?"
Members of both groups sent threatening messages to Ms Jones, doxxed her on-line and off-, and sent her death threats. She notes painfully in her public speeches that she has lost 50 pounds and much of her hair due to the stress. Challenges to Ms Jones’ authority and person keep coming because such organizations make deft use of social media, because they are endorsed by Christian churches and because they exist as “dark-money” groups that don’t have to disclose donor identities.
Challenges to or bans of books in U.S. schools and libraries have surged to record highs. Christina Sterbenz’s recent editorial in American Libraries Magazine reported that “1,648 unique book titles were banned in schools between July 2021 and June 2022. Of these titles, 41% explicitly address LGBTQ+ themes or have LGBTQ+ characters, while 40% feature protagonists or prominent secondary characters of color.” This, despite that the presence on bookshelves of more diverse, equitable and inclusive themes is virtually brand-new.
Ms Jones has authored a book that will come out in August of this year: That Librarian: the fight against book banning in America (Bloomsbury Publishing). Of her memoir, Ms Jones declared, “I cried a lot, then decided to fight back; I hope librarians can read my book and feel like they’re not alone.”
“When I wrote my story,” she adds, “I tried to go high. I hope that no one harasses the men who harassed me. I just wanted to be honest, truthful, diplomatic.”
Retraction:
In January, The Times-Journal published three articles by Lawrence Hammar in his column Books Will Speak Plain. In the articles, paleographer Andrea Boltresz was spoken about improperly. The Times-Journal apologizes for this and wishes to clarify that we didn’t mean to publish anything inferring that Dr. Boltresz has mental health issues.
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