Librarians on the Front Lines

Dark money and the fight for free speech

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Author’s Note: In light of yesterday’s cold-blooded murder of Renee Nicole Good—a poet and mother of three—at the hands of our government, I considered not publishing this column today. But the more I thought about it, and about the firehose of outrageous words and actions we’re faced with every day, I decided to put it out anyway. Because if we stop speaking up, the forces of darkness will have their way, and I won’t be a party to that. My heart goes out to Ms. Good’s family and to my friends in her community. We are all Minnesotans today.

One of my favorite movies of all time is Field of Dreams. I’m a sucker for a mushy baseball movie, Kevin Costner, and the iconic James Earle Jones “people will come” soliloquy. Plus, my beloved Fenway Park makes a stunning cameo. The 1989 film is about a lot of things, but one of them is standing up for what’s right. Do yourself a favor and spend a few minutes watching this scene about book banning, which sadly remains relevant today.

I thought about that scene recently during a screening of the acclaimed 2025 documentary “The Librarians” at the Prytania Theater in New Orleans. One of the key figures in the film is Louisiana’s Amanda Jones, author of the breakout bestseller That Librarian. Amanda has been on the front lines of the fight against book banning. On a panel following the film, she joined Lynette Mejia, Executive Director of Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship, Katie Schwartzman, of the Tulane First Amendment Law Clinic, and the moderator, academic librarian Dayne Sherman.

The Librarians premieres on PBS on February 9, 2026.

Last April, I wrote a post about my own background working in a library, highlighting the importance of supporting free speech in general and libraries in particular. But I had so much more to learn. The film traces the stories of several school librarians who stood up to censorship attempts in Texas, California, New Jersey, Louisiana, and elsewhere. The personal consequences for them were often severe.

The history of this issue is as old as books themselves, and the film draws a well-documented through-line from today’s bans back to Joe McCarthy, and before that to the Nazi book burnings. The opposition to free speech now is well-orchestrated, billionaire-funded, and very effective. Right-wing groups like Moms for Liberty, which my friend Professor Maurice Cunningham has done a great job exposing in his book Dark Money, sit at the intersection of white Christian nationalism and the fight for our democracy. In many ways, public libraries, and school libraries in particular, are ground zero for that battle. And make no mistake about their end game: defunding public and school libraries, cutting taxes, and keeping people ignorant.

Threatened and banned books include many by authors of color, LGBTQ+ authors, or those addressing race, sexuality, and gender.

But there’s good news too. Grassroots political organizing still works. Some of the anti-free speech school board members depicted in the film have since been replaced. In the last Louisiana legislative session, over 44,000 letters and calls from concerned citizens helped defeat several onerous bills filed to curtail speech and punish librarians. One bill would have criminalized librarians for attending the American Library Association conference—and sentenced them to two years’ hard time.

Want to get involved? United Against Book Bans has a great advocacy toolkit. Penn America has lots more information and banned book lists here. If you’re in Louisiana, support Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship’s activities here. The Louisiana legislature convenes again on March 9, 2026. See you on the ramparts.