The Librarians Review
As has become unignorably apparent with the recent Jimmy Kimmel situation, America is currently mired in a battle over freedom of expression. But as Kim Snyder’s latest documentary, The Librarians, proves, this is a battle that’s been fought for quite some time, and fought by far less famous warriors.
In 2021, Texas House representative Matt Krause sent a list of 850 books that he thought should be taken off the shelves to Texas school boards (with no explanation as to how he came to his decisions). Almost every single one of those books was either centered around race or LGBTQ issues. Some school librarians acquiesced and removed them. Some did not. Those who didn’t faced harsh penalties – some lost their jobs (in one district, 20 out of 40 were pushed out), and others even received death threats. In The Librarians, we hear from those who were brave enough to stand up to the rising tide of authoritarianism. They talk about why they felt strongly enough to do so despite the big risks, and what it’s been like for them in the time since.
Across these interviews, questions are raised about just who is funding this campaign to put such blatant censorship into schools. Much of the documentary is centered around footage from school board meetings, which have become particularly fraught over the last few years. The main antagonists in The Librarians are the members of the hypocritically-named group ‘Moms For Liberty’, who are sending representatives to meetings at schools where their own children don’t even attend. They specialise in reading book excerpts out of context, and decrying the loss of ‘traditional families’. Recorded clips often go viral. Snyder’s film follows the money trail to find Moms For Liberty’s funding comes from the very highest echelons of the government.
That investigation is only a part of the documentary, however. We also spend time with the individuals affected by the censorship campaign. Besides the librarians, who all have their own fascinating stories to tell, we hear from a conservative woman who was initially troubled by tales of the books in the school library, until she realised she and the other parents were being fed lies. We also meet a man who was kicked out of his home when he came out to his mother – a Mom For Liberty. The not-quite confrontation between the two at one of the school board meetings is one of the movie’s most dramatic, heart-rending moments.
Especially against the dire context of our current moment, The Librarians can be a tough watch. The ignorance and hypocrisy fuelling the censorship campaign makes for galling viewing. As one of the students featured here says, no government that has banned books has ever been seen in history as the good guys.
And yet, when presented with the librarians who put their whole lives on the line to fight a righteous battle they know they have a big chance of losing, and the eloquent kids who are brave enough to have their backs, then how can you be anything other than inspired?
★★★★★
