The Librarians

kottke.org November 19, 2025 By Jason Kottke

As part of the fascist war on “woke”, tens of thousands of books have been pulled from the shelves of libraries around the country over the past few years. On the front line are the nation’s librarians, “first responders in the fight for democracy and our First Amendment rights”. The Librarians is a documentary film about this latest wave of censorship & persecution of librarians; here’s the trailer:

From a review on RogerEbert.com:

“The Librarians” is a documentary about the hysterical, unfounded, personal, and sometimes violent attacks on librarians. It is also about their unwavering commitment to making facts, literature, and inspiration available to anyone.

And:

The film has some indelibly searing moments, linking these efforts to Senator Joseph McCarthy’s Red Scare, to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels’ burning books by Jewish authors, and to the Twilight Zone episode “The Obsolete Man,” with Burgess Meredith as a librarian sentenced to death. There is a quote from President Eisenhower: “Don’t think you’re going to conceal faults by concealing evidence they ever existed. Read every book.”

The Librarians is out in theaters now but not very widely, so you’ll have to check the list of screenings on their web site.

Tags: libraries · movies · The Librarians · trailers · video

💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org

As part of the fascist war on “woke”, tens of thousands of books have been pulled from the shelves of libraries around the country over the past few years. On the front line are the nation’s librarians, “first responders in the fight for democracy and our First Amendment rights”. The Librarians is a documentary film about this latest wave of censorship & persecution of librarians; here’s the trailer:

From a review on RogerEbert.com:

“The Librarians” is a documentary about the hysterical, unfounded, personal, and sometimes violent attacks on librarians. It is also about their unwavering commitment to making facts, literature, and inspiration available to anyone.

And:

The film has some indelibly searing moments, linking these efforts to Senator Joseph McCarthy’s Red Scare, to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels’ burning books by Jewish authors, and to the Twilight Zone episode “The Obsolete Man,” with Burgess Meredith as a librarian sentenced to death. There is a quote from President Eisenhower: “Don’t think you’re going to conceal faults by concealing evidence they ever existed. Read every book.”

The Librarians is out in theaters now but not very widely, so you’ll have to check the list of screenings on their web site.

Tags: libraries · movies · The Librarians · trailers · video

💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org

Comments 0

Log in to post a comment.

No comments yet. Be the first to comment!

Source Information
kottke.org
Web Publication

Published on November 19, 2025 by Jason Kottke

Visit Original Article
Advertise with Us

Reach our audience with your ads