OELMA Welcomes Keynote Author and Illustrator

Sharee Miller on Friday, November 14th

Sharee Miller is an award-winning author and illustrator. Her debut graphic novel Curlfriends: New in Town won the SCBWI Golden Kite Award for Illustrated Book/Graphic Novel for Older Readersand was nominated for an NAACP award. She is the creator of many critically acclaimed picture books including Don't Touch My Hair, Princess Hair, and Michelle’s Garden: How the First Lady planted seeds of Change. She is also the illustrator of Sam’s Super Seatsby Keah Brown, Be, Black Girl, Be by Taylor Darks (June 2024), the graphic novel adaptation of One Crazy Summer by Rita Willams-Garcia(Summer 2025), and more.

Sharee grew up in St. Thomas where the bright colors and sunshine of the Caribbean inspired her to create colorful and bright artwork. She is known for her fresh and cheerful characters. Sharee loves creating picture books, graphic novels, and illustrations that depict black joy.

Illustration clients include Highlights, DC Comics, Captial One, Amazon Photos, Starz, Skip Hop, The Children’s Place, Carters, The Met, Lily News, The Washington Post, and more. 

OELMA Welcomes School Librarian Amanda Jones

Sharee Miller on Saturday, November 15th

Amanda Jones is currently the school librarian at the same school she attended as a child, where she has worked for the past twenty-three years. Amanda made national headlines in 2022 when she was targeted by extremists in her town for speaking out at a public library board meeting. She decided to fight back and took her harassers to court, while continuing to speak out at both the local and national level against the pro-censorship movement. Amanda chronicles what it is like being the target of white Christian nationalists and the importance of standing up for intellectual freedom, in her upcoming book That Librarian: Fighting Book Banners in Today’s America which will be published in fall of 2024.

Amanda was the 2021 School Library Journal Co-Librarian of the Year, a 2021 Library Journal Mover and Shaker, and the 2020 Louisiana Librarian of the Year. She enjoys presenting at the national and international level on the importance of certified school librarians, book joy, and why every child deserves to see themselves reflected in the books on library shelves. Amanda has received numerous intellectual freedom awards from the American Library Association, American Association of School Librarians, and Louisiana Library Association for her dedication to eradicating censorship and promoting libraries in Louisiana.

She is the Executive Director of the Livingston Parish Library Alliance, a group comprised of citizens in her town dedicated to the importance of preserving the freedom of the library to provide services to all patrons no matter their ethnicity, religion, gender identity, education status, political affiliation, socioeconomic status or any other diversity of life and thought. She is also a co-founding member of Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship, a grassroots organization fighting censorship in the bayou state. Amanda currently resides in Louisiana with her teenage daughter, husband she’s known since first grade, and their cat Juno Mars. When not presenting and fighting the good fight, Amanda enjoys reading, obsessively watching Tiktok, and a good Louisiana crawfish boil.

Website: https://theauthorvillage.com/presenters/amanda-jones/