Dr. Knox is an associate professor in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research interests include information access and intellectual freedom and censorship. She is a member of the Mapping Information Access research team.

Her most recent book Foundations of Intellectual Freedom (ALA Neal-Schuman) won the 2023 Eli M. Oboler Prize for best published work in the area of intellectual freedom. Her previous book, Book Banning in 21st Century America (Rowman & Littlefield) is the first monograph in the Beta Phi Mu Scholars’ Series. Emily’s articles have been published in the Library Quarterly, Library and Information Science Research, and the Journal of Intellectual Freedom and Privacy.

Emily is chair of the board of the National Coalition Against Censorship. She is also editor of the Journal of Intellectual Freedom and Privacy.

Emily received her PhD from the doctoral program at the Rutgers University School of Communication & Information.

Amanda Jones is a 23 year educator, school librarian, and the current Past President of the Louisiana Association of School Librarians. She is the 2021 School Library Journal Librarian of the Year, a 2021 Library Journal Mover and Shaker, and the 2020 Louisiana School Librarian of the Year. She made national headlines for fighting back against censorship in her community when she became a target of extremists. Amanda is a co-founding member of Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship, a grassroots organization fighting attacks on intellectual freedom in Louisiana. She is the winner of multiple intellectual freedom awards from the ALA, AASL, and the Louisiana Library Association. She serves as the LLA Chapter Councilor for ALA and is a member of the AASL Chapter Assembly. Her book That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America, will be published by Bloomsbury in 2024. Find out more about her at librarianjones.com.