That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America

by Amanda Jones

My huge crime was speaking out against censorship at my local public library board meeting on Tuesday, July 19, 2022. In retrospect, it was a pretty tame statement, compared with the reaction it elicited.

You only mock people who have awards when you have no real accomplishments of your own.

Men like Michael and Ryan are intimidated by strong women, and when people have nothing of value to contribute to the conversation, they turn to personal attacks.

A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true. —MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

no one on the right side of history has ever been on the side of censorship and hiding books. I said, “Hate and fear disguised as moral outrage have no place in Livingston Parish.”

A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others. —AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

“Libraries are not daycare centers.” A parent shouldn’t just drop off their child at the local courthouse or Walmart, just like they shouldn’t be dropping their minor children off at the library. Public libraries have adult sections because they also serve adults. If you don’t want your child near adult material, you should monitor your own child.

“Each attempt to ban a book by one of these groups represents a direct attack on every person’s constitutionally protected right to freely choose what books to read and what ideas to explore. The choice of what to read must be left to the reader or, in the case of children, to parents. That choice does not belong to self-appointed book police.”

It is about marginalizing and erasing cultures and groups of people, it is about defunding public institutions, it is about dumbing down society for a more easily led population, and it is about using libraries for political gain. At the end of the day, the pro-censorship movement is about privatizing education and privatizing libraries for a group of people who are seeking to line their pockets. And to achieve those goals, otherwise well-meaning people have been enlisted in a social movement that goes against everything America stands for. That’s the really sad and tragic thing.

I’m going to take the high road because the low road is so crowded. —MIA FARROW

Running your mouth on social media is weak, but collecting knowledge is power.