Films: ‘The Librarians’ Review: A Powerful Documentary About American Book Bans — and the Heroes Who Battle Them
The banning of books in school libraries, an especially hot topic in 2022/23 news cycles, may not feature high in the headlines recently given the new presidential administration’s tsunami of rights-snuffing, Constitution-flouting executive orders. But it’s still going on. That makes the debut at Sundance of The Librarians, a scrupulously assembled feature documentary by esteemed, Peabody-winning director Kim A. Snyder, all the more welcome. (It’s extra timely given since Snyder was just Oscar-nominated, alongside producer Janique L. Robillard, for her documentary short Death By Numbers, which concerns a school-shooting survivor.)
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The 88-minute film, executive produced by Sarah Jessica Parker’s shingle Pretty Matches Prods., follows the steadfast FReadom Fighters as they face escalating conflict and an increase in book censorship. Texas school librarians founded the group after lawmaker Rep. Matt Krause targeted 850 books to be removed from the state’s libraries, leading to bans on books such as “Catcher in the Rye” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
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Filed under: Libraries, News, School Libraries

About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.