Amanda Jones may have lost her opening skirmish against those who unfairly attacked her but the fight is very much alive and she continues to get rave reviews from national media for her courageous stand in defense of the First Amendment right to choose what we want to read.
Jones, a school librarian in Livingston Parish had the temerity a couple of years ago to attend a meeting of the Livingston Parish Library Board in the capacity of a private citizen in opposition to proposed book banning.
Her battle has been chronicled by NBC News, The Hill, Education Week, The Independent, The American Library Association, NPR, HuffPost, The New York Times, Library Journal, Education leader Diane, Ravitch’s blog, and of course, The Baton Rouge Advocate and LOUISIANA VOICE, among others.
But now she has achieved the ultimate accolade. Last night, Oprah Winfrey was the keynote speaker at the 74th National Book Awards ceremony in New York City. Regardless of your opinion of Oprah, when she speaks, people in positions of power listen. One endorsement from her can turn a book into an overnight bestseller.
Last night Oprah took the occasion to heap words of praise on Amanda Jones and her battle for the right to read. To hear what she said, click HERE.
Jones, the 2021 National Librarian of the Year and former president of the Louisiana Association of School Librarians, was pilloried unmercifully by detractors whose only tactic in their efforts to censor books was to attack her for her defense of the First Amendment. The verbal assaults weren’t in support of the idea of censorship – that cannot be defended – but rather, they consisted exclusively of character assassination of Amanda Jones.
That social media criticism sank to the sorry level of outright defamation but the district court ruled that Jones was a public figure and tossed her lawsuit. That curious decision is currently under appeal. Public figures, as per the landmark US Supreme Court case New York Times v. Sullivan, have a higher bar to clear in order to advance defamation lawsuits. The ruling was intended for elected officials and appointed officials of authority, not librarians.
As an illustration of just how far the morality police are willing – and able – to go in their absurd decency quest to rid library shelves of anything with objectional words or themes, a book was removed from school libraries in Alabama recently because the author’s name was…Gay. That’s right, his last name was Gay and that was sufficient to ban the book.
But Jones nevertheless trudges onward, determined to fight efforts to pick and choose which books to ban – what we are allowed to read. Books like To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the best books ever written.
When I first moved to Livingston Parish in 1981, the Livingston Parish Library was housed in a single tiny, cramped room in the rear of a one-story medical building. Today, we boast a proud parish-wide library system that is the envy of surrounding parishes. It is my fervent hope that we can keep the facilities open.
Jones, contacted this morning, had this to say about her experience, the Oprah plug and to endorse a tax renewal – not a new tax, but a renewal – this Saturday to fund the parish library system.
“For the past year and a half, I have been publicly lied about on social media by a group of hate-filled individuals hell bent on silencing me. My crime? Speaking out as a resident on behalf of the Livingston Parish Public Library. They lie and say I was advocating for certain books to be in children’s sections, but I never spoke about a particular book. I spoke about censorship in general and reminded the public that our library has policies in place to challenge books they object to in our local library. They’ve twisted my words to suit their narrative in an effort to defund our public library and scare everyone in the community into silence. The harassment forced me to take a medical leave of absence from my job as a school librarian, which is a job I love with my whole being.
“I refuse to be silent and I refuse to back down. They are bullies. I do not back down to bullies. I filed a defamation lawsuit. They will tell you that I am trying to silence two parents’ voices. One of those parents doesn’t even live in our parish and the other parent never spoke out at that meeting. All he had the courage to do was lie about me online from behind a screen. I do not know these people. I have never spoken to them or interacted with them online. I do not object to them voicing their opinions, but I do object to them posting the lie that I advocate the teaching of anal sex to children and want to give pornography to children.
“Last night, Oprah recognized me for my efforts to save our public library at the National Book Awards. To say I am shocked is an understatement. Oprah is the reason I know about authors like Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, and Dr. Maya Angelou–authors who all shaped the person I am today. It’s Oprah. She has helped shape the book industry. I will cherish her recognition forever. However, even more important to me is our public library. I believe in the freedom to read. I believe that libraries should serve all members of the community. I believe that libraries are for everyone and have faith in the dedicated professionals with library science degrees. Our libraries are community hubs open to all. Help us save it before it is too late.
“Do you love our Livingston Parish Public Library? Vote YES to the millage renewal on November 18th. This is not a new tax. Otherwise, our public libraries will close by 2026 and that’s the real travesty.
“Don’t believe what I’m telling you? It’s all in the court motions. Check it out for yourself: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-mEI4baXZsvPdpbslQ_1FbP8uGoPDLIz/view . Do you also stand against censorship? Join us at Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship: https://www.la-cac.org/ Want to know more about our efforts to save the Livingston Parish Library? Visit https://www.lplalliance.com/,
Thanks for reporting this and letting us about know about LCAC!
The fascists are scared to death their children may learn there is a much wider and more complex world beyond their parent’s prejudices. Amanda Jones is paying the price for their fear and paranoia.