Kim A. Snyder’s “The Librarians,” screening at the Grange Hall on August 1, is part of the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival’s 25th anniversary Summer Celebration Series.
The powerful, deeply chilling documentary exposes the complexities surrounding the rising tide of book bans in libraries over the past five years, and the courageous heroes who battle against them.
Snyder, an Oscar-nominated and Peabody-winning director, opens the documentary with Ray Bradbury’s unsettling words from “Fahrenheit 451”: “It was a pleasure to burn. It was a specific pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed.”
She goes on to weave together tense school board meetings with intimate interviews of librarians on the frontlines who have been fired, harassed, and stalked as they defend books about race and LGBTQ topics. Snyder enhances current real-life events with clips from old movies that rail against librarians and endorse book-burning, reflecting how scarily close reality has come to art.
The first voice we hear is that of a distressed librarian who is backlit to remain anonymous. “I never imagined that what’s happening now could ever happen. It didn’t dawn on us that we’d come under attack. We never imagined we’d be at the forefront … We’re stewards of the space, of the resources. We’re stewards for the people … Now we’ve moved into the vanguard.”
Throughout the film, we meet librarians in Texas, Louisiana, and Florida as they face fierce opponents — including politicians, the right-wing organization Moms for Liberty, and conservative school boards — while defending access to books that reflect students’ lives. Although their passion is evident, it is even more powerful to watch clips of students testifying or sharing informal moments about their experiences, as they are the ones harmed by the removal of books that speak to their truth. One teenage student at a school board meeting stands at a podium, confronting the members: “The job of the superintendent and school board is not only to protect students in this district, but to make them feel like they have a place in this community. I have got to tell you, from what I’m seeing so far, you are failing at your job … Stop the censorship in our district. Wake up to the reality that we are all different, and we should embrace each other with love and not blatant hate.”
The alarming waves of censorship across the country began when Rep. Matt Krause of Texas issued a list of 850 books to school superintendents in 2021. Known as the “Krause List,” it asked them to check whether their districts owned the titles and to report how much they had spent on them. Librarian Carolyn Foote says, “It was so obvious he’s targeting LGBTQ titles and authors of color, and books about race and sex ed.” Books on the list included “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood, “Roe v. Wade: A Woman’s Choice?” by Susan Dudley Gold, “Cider House Rules” by John Irving, and “The Confessions of Nat Turner” by William Styron.
A few days later, Gov. Greg Abbott sent a letter to the Texas Association of School Boards requesting that they address what he called the “obscene materials” in their libraries. In a televised news clip, Abbott states, “I’m calling for the immediate removal of these very pornographic materials from the libraries in our schools. And I want to establish standards so that parents are assured their children will not be exposed to it.”
Circuit Arts’ director of film programming, Minah Oh, shares, “Including ‘The Librarians’ felt essential. The film powerfully highlights the courageous efforts of librarians across the country who are defending intellectual freedom in the face of unprecedented censorship and book bans. This screening also reflects one of the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival’s core missions: not only providing access to the arts for our community, but also uplifting the work of Vineyard artists and filmmakers. We’re proud to recognize executive producers Maria Cuomo Cole, Colleen DeVeer, Marni Grossman, and Geralyn Dreyfous — all seasonal Vineyard residents — whose involvement helped bring this vital story to the screen.”
Watching repeated inflammatory school board meetings nationwide, we see how librarians put together the pieces to understand that white Christian nationalism is fueling the censorship efforts, and using the pretext of pornography and obscenity statutes to prosecute librarians. Librarian Nancy Jo Lambert says, “Politicians are playing a very dangerous game when they’re trying to make school libraries battlegrounds for their political war, because the only people that’s going to hurt are our kids. These spaces, these resources are supposed to be this magical entry point to this world, to stories, to ideas.”
Despite the harassment, threats, and laws aimed at criminalizing their work, the librarians fight for the children they care about deeply. As we follow their stories, we become invested in their struggles, and also feel the personal toll the battle has taken as they fight to defend intellectual freedom.
At the film’s end, the anonymous librarian comes forth on camera, leaving us with her words, “I can’t stay in the shadows anymore … I won’t be censored, just like we can’t let them keep censoring the stories in our books. What I do know is that our story is still being written. But now it’s everyone’s story.”
Following the screening on August 1 of “The Librarians,” CNBC news anchor Frank Holland will moderate a discussion with director Kim A. Snyder, producer Maria Cuomo Cole, and executive producers Colleen Deveer and Marni E.J. Grossman. For pay-what-you-can tickets, visit circuitarts.org/librarians.