Though we do well to celebrate the rise of Widow’s Bay and Jean Smart’s 193rd public recognition, another excellent thing happened at the Emmys this year: librarians got a much-deserved shout-out.
Specifically recognized were the librarians behind The Librarians, a documentary about the public workers on the front lines of the fight against book bans. Our chicest bibliophile, Sarah Jessica Parker, championed this project from its Sundance debut all the way to the strip.
Produced and directed by the Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Kim Snyder—whose previous work includes Newtown—the doc centers library workers in Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Texas who have suffered career consequences for defying book bans. Legislative efforts to censor books—like the fascistic Krause List campaign, in Texas—are also explored in depth.
The result is a watch as grim as it is inspiring. On the one hand, the film pays witness to all the authoritarian insanity unfolding at state houses around the country. But on the other, it celebrates the everyday heroes who are standing up to censorship.
“We are proud to stand in solidarity with all our courageous librarians, true heroes, and so many others across the nation who continue to fight to defend our First Amendment rights and our freedom to read,” Snyder said, as she accepted the Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking.
Watch the rest of Snyder’s stirring acceptance speech here. (And catch the film itself here.)
And if possible, thank a librarian today.
