Librarian sues over accusations that kids’ section contains “erotic” books

Driving the news: Jones, president of the Louisiana Association of School Librarians, filed the lawsuit Wednesday, arguing that two men, Michael Lunsford and Ryan Thames, falsely accused her of being a pedophile who wanted to teach children about anal sex, NBC News reports.

• The lawsuit points to the Citizens for a New Louisiana Facebook page, which has criticized “anti-censorship folks” who didn't want to shift any “sexually explicit and erotic materials targeting eight to ten-year-olds” to the adult section of libraries.
• Jones became a specific target for the group, who said she was “fighting so hard to keep sexually erotic and pornographic materials” in the kids' section.

The big picture: Parents and conservative activists nationwide have pushed school districts to remove books with sexual references, discussions on race, authors of color and LGBTQ information. The war on books has slowly migrated to public libraries, too.

• As schools have become more diverse, there has been some back-and-forth about what books students can access or should read, Axios' Russell Contreras writes.

What she said: “I’ve had enough for everybody,” Jones told NBC News in response to the lawsuit. “Nobody stands up to these people. They just say what they want and there are no repercussions and they ruin people’s reputations and there’s no consequences.” 

What's next: Jones is seeking damages and asked the judge to issue a restraining order to stop the activists from speaking about her in public in the future, NBC News reports.

Go deeper ... Book bans are back in style