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Documentary Screening: The Librarians

For Adults

About the Program

Join us for a special screening of The Librarians, a powerful documentary highlighting public libraries’ role in protecting access to information and strengthening civic life.

The screening will be followed by a live virtual conversation with a librarian featured in the film.

In partnership with the Early Language, Learning, and Literacy Alliance of Waterloo Region (ELLA), Cambridge Public Library, Kitchener Public Library, and Region of Waterloo Library.

Film Description

As an unprecedented wave of book banning largely addressing race and LGBT issues is sparked in Texas, Florida, and beyond, librarians under siege join forces as unlikely defenders fighting for intellectual freedom on the front lines of democracy.

In Texas, the Krause List targets 850 books focused on race and LGBTQIA+ stories – triggering sweeping book bans across the U.S. at an unprecedented rate. As tensions escalate, librarians connect the dots from heated school and library board meetings nationwide to lay bare the underpinnings of a large-scale coordinated extremist movement fueling the censorship efforts. Despite facing harassment, threats, and laws aimed at criminalizing their work – the librarians’ rallying cry for freedom to read is a chilling cautionary tale.

Staff: Charlie