Amanda Jones is a middle-school librarian from the town she grew up in in Louisiana, who in 2022 attended a meeting at her local public library to speak out against censorship. She then found herself the target of a hate campaign on social media, with accusations of grooming children and death threats. This pushed her into high gear as an advocate for the Freedom to Read, and in her 2024 book That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America, she tells her story. Amanda will join us via Zoom on Sunday, March 16, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. to discuss her book, the importance of the library profession, and book joy, all in a national climate of assaults on the freedom to read.
This is a virtual program. Please register by using this link. Those who register for the Zoom will receive a recording of the event.
About the author: Amanda Jones was the 2021 School Library Journal Co-Librarian of the Year, a 2021 Library Journal Mover and Shaker, and the 2020 Louisiana Librarian of the Year. She enjoys presenting at the national and international level on the importance of certified school librarians, book joy, and why every child deserves to see themselves reflected in the books on library shelves. Amanda has received numerous intellectual freedom awards from the American Library Association, American Association of School Librarians, and Louisiana Library Association for her dedication to eradicating censorship and promoting libraries in Louisiana.
She is the Executive Director of the Livingston Parish Library Alliance, a group comprised of citizens in her town dedicated to the importance of preserving the freedom of the library to provide services to all patrons no matter their ethnicity, religion, gender identity, education status, political affiliation, socioeconomic status or any other diversity of life and thought. She is also a co-founding member of Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship, a grassroots organization fighting censorship in the bayou state.
Amanda currently resides in Louisiana with her teenage daughter, husband she’s known since first grade, and their cat Juno Mars. When not presenting and fighting the good fight, Amanda enjoys reading, obsessively watching Tiktok, and a good Louisiana crawfish boil.
This program is offered in partnership with the Yarmouth Town Libraries and other libraries across Massachusetts.