The Librarians

Books have been banned in Texas, Florida, and beyond, in an unprecedented wave of censorship. Books addressing race issues and racism, the LGBTQ community and related topics. Besieged librarians have united to defend the intellectual freedom of their fellow citizens as best they can. They are in a state of shock, but as America’s librarians they are also the protectors and first responders of free information.

COMMENTARY
Using archival material and cinéma verité footage, Kim A. Snyder documents the clashes between librarians, students and activists and conservative school boards, representatives of White Christian Nationalism – the ideological driving force behind the censorship – and members of the Moms for Liberty movement. Despite these protests resulting in people losing their livelihoods and the violation of rights, librarians continue to courageously fight against this climate of censorship. Echoes of McCarthyism resonate throughout the narrative as book burnings of the past are rekindled in the present, the film is a heartfelt and powerful defence of the freedom to read.

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
There are moments in history in which random events lead to something much bigger, as happened with World War I and the Arab Spring. The same could be said for this attack on librarians. The film focuses on this critical situation and what it says about where the United States finds itself today. It now appears that the events we captured three years ago were like the canary in the coal mine. The role of librarians in society has always been that of curators of knowledge, stewards of information. This new witch hunt has echoes of McCarthyism about it, it is just so shocking and unthinkable.