THE LIBRARIANS*****

I was a nerdy, poor immigrant kid insatiable for books and my local public library and my school library were like treasure caves. I will forever be grateful to the librarians who guided me to books I might like based on my reading and provided a wonderful childhood of expanding horizons. The idea that anyone could villify and dox and physically threaten this wonderful profession of largely mild-mannered nerdy women is shocking to me.  And yet that's what's happening in Trump's America, where bigoted, illiterate, judgmental politicians and their activist lackeys are banning books and attempting to prosecute those that defend free speech and children's access to what are actually harmless titles.  Because this is never about child protection, and always about censorship and coercion. You may NOT learn about being gay or queer or feminism or racial or social injustice. I grew up with this bollocks too, in the shape of Section 28 of the Local Government Act, that banned teachers from being openly gay or "promoting a gay lifestyle".  

Kim A. Snyder's documentary is urgent, angry-making, and beautifully constructed. It foregrounds the real heroes - ordinary teachers and librarians and community activists who are showing up, week-in week-out, to school board meetings and local government meetings, often at extreme personal risk. They are people who are being coerced out of their jobs, forced into hiding, to arm themselves. It's beyond absurd. A lot of the footage is taken from meetings where we, in turn, see activists on either side of this issue taking iphone footage of each other, to be used later on social media and to whip up a storm.  And as Snyder points out, this so-called grassroots movement of conservative moms is in fact funded by major oligarchs.  

This is a fantastic must-see documentary.  I know that when people are literally being shot down by ICE the ability to read books might seem trivial. But this is where fascism starts. Almost a year ago we were in Berlin for the Film Festival and our hotel room overlooked the public square where the Nazis burned books.  Tourists were taking selfies at the commemorative spot. Let's not sit still on history when it's repeating itself before our eyes. Watch. This. Now.

THE LIBRARIANS has a running time of 92 minutes and is rated 15. It played Sundance and SXSW 2025. It was released in the USA last September and is available to stream in the UK on BBC IPlayer.