“Beware of your local librarian!” The idea that this could be a concern held by some Americans seemed unthinkable to director Kim A. Snyder (“Death By Numbers”, “Newtown”) back in 2021 when she embarked on the project that would end up being her latest documentary “The Librarians.” But as the latest wave of the culture wars has crested over the last few years, librarians — and books on local public and school library shelves — found themselves in the crosshairs of school board members, Christian Nationalists, and well-funded conservative organizations.
Kim joins Ken on the pod to explain the evolving public image of librarians and to connect the dots between conservative political strategy, attempts to remove books from school libraries, and threats of criminal prosecution of librarians who dare to stand up for the rights of their students. Kim discusses the list of 850 books created by a Republican Texas state representative with the intent of identifying and removing the books from school library shelves. Not surprisingly, these titles feature LGBTQ+ characters (over 60% of the books on the list), as well as books about race and Black history, and authors of color. While Texas and Florida may be ground zero for these attacks on literature and librarians, Kim describes how the movement has gone national. Fortunately, for those who value the importance of young people (and adults) having access to these books, a group of librarians known as “The Freedom Fighters” — and other librarians across the country — are now speaking out.
“The Librarians” is nominated for the Primetime Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. It is available for streaming on the PBS YouTube Channel.
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