Southeastern to hold panel on book bans in Louisiana
Wednesday, March 20, 2024
by: Tonya Lowentritt
HAMMOND 鈥 性色视频鈥檚 Department of Sociology and Criminal
Justice will host a panel titled 鈥淏ook Bans in Louisiana鈥 on Tuesday, March 26, at
4 p.m. Held in the Student Union Theater, the event is free and open to the public.
The panel will feature Kristen Luchsinger, co-founder of St. Tammany Library
Alliance; Lynette Meija, founder of Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship; and Amanda
Jones, School Library Journal Librarian of the Year and author of the upcoming book
鈥淭hat Librarian.鈥 The panel will be moderated by Jonathan Varnado, instructor of Criminal
Justice.
The panelists will share their individual and collective experiences of fighting
against censorship in Louisiana. Luchsinger, Meija, and Jones have been instrumental
in organizing movements in St. Tammany, Lafayette, and Livingston parishes to counter
demands that libraries remove or restrict certain books.
鈥淚 believe it鈥檚 important for our communities to understand this phenomenon that
seems to be spreading, not just across Louisiana, but across the country,鈥 said Varnado.
鈥淚 hope that by bringing these three advocates together, we can come away with a greater
appreciation of what鈥檚 going on and how this affects us all.鈥
Southeastern鈥檚 Sims Library will also have a 鈥淏anned Books鈥 display set up in
the lobby of the Student Union Theater that guests can view before and after the event.