When I was young, like 6, my father was stationed in Germany and I spent four years there. I loved reading and would BEG him, literally every day, to take me to the library. I just loved books that much. Sure, I would check out some of the books over and over. And sometimes I didn’t completely understand what I was reading and needed help. The library became my church and the librarians the steward of truth and all things holy. That still stands firm for me at 46 and will never falter.
The Librarians is a documentary about book banning that is happening across the country. It follows a few examples of cities that are compiling entire lists of books to add to ban lists. While the “reasons” are varied, they all want to censor what is available for the public. Not what is being forced or on a syllabus, what is AVAILABLE. This film centers on the fight in Texas school districts and how its spreading across the US. You will learn where the dark money is truly coming from, supporting the organizations that are infiltrating school boards, and fighting to get books removed they deem too controversial, sexual in nature, and goes against family values.
The direction is fair, though nothing new. It is the raw documentarian style we have all come to know. The people interviewed are librarians, politicians and constituents. All seem to represent themselves as you would expect. There is actual footage and documentation used to support the film, which Is always nice. The credibility and integrity is definitely there.
Overall, I would give it a solid eight. I would go a little over, but we don’t do “halvsies” here and I don’t feel comfortable with a soft nine (insert snicker here). I thought it was definitely a documentary worth watching and something that should be considered a very real issue across the country. It will be available on the PBS platform on February 9th and everybody should check it out especially in an election year.
