- Welcome to Independent Lens.
I'm Pete Schwaba, host of PBS Wisconsin's Director's Cut.
It's been said that not all heroes wear capes,
but some can help you navigate the Dewey Decimal System
or the card catalog.
I might be dating myself with those references,
but in tonight's documentary,
you will meet the people who fight censorship
and are willing to put themselves in harm's way
against an aggressive right-wing group
who try to force their will
by removing books from school libraries.
Tonight's film is The Librarians.
The film focuses on librarians who stand firm
in the name of democracy by fighting book banning
by a group called Moms for Liberty.
They focus on school curriculums
and those who provide support for LGBTQ+ students,
race and ethnicity,
and diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
The organization was formed in 2021
by a handful of Florida school board members
who felt that their rights as parents were infringed upon.
The group actively pursues their objectives
to endorse candidates for school boards
who support their conversative views.
Books that have been banned in states like Florida and Texas
include those from famed authors like Toni Morrison,
Ellen Hopkins, and Katherine Paterson,
and titles like The Handmaid's Tale, The Kite Runner,
and The Bridge to Terabithia.
As concerned as they say they are about books,
Moms for Liberty was actually started
as a response to mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic,
claiming the group's true focus is parental rights.
The film follows three leading ladies.
Susan Baker is an Army veteran
who lost her job for refusing to pull books.
Amanda Jones is a librarian in Louisiana
who has been personally targeted and identified by book banners.
New Jersey librarian Martha Hixson is the one credited
with doing the research that traced book-banning efforts
back to Moms for Liberty.
The group retaliated by calling Hixson a pedophile
and labeling librarians and educators
who advocate for keeping certain books on the shelves
as pornographers.
These three actors are fighting
not just to protect books, but also readers.
In The Librarians, award-winning director Kim A. Snyder
pulls no punches in identifying the motives of Moms for Liberty
while telling the stories of those who are punching back,
so to speak.
The film's opening quote is from Ray Bradbury,
the author of Fahrenheit 451,
a novel that equates book burning to authoritarianism.
It is inspiring to see Snyder's actors show courage
while standing up to verbal harassment
and actual threats of physical harm
just so the rest of us and our kids continue to have access
to literary classics.
One of the things that Snyder said startled her the most
during this project was when she saw the list
of over 850 books that had been targeted for banning,
and asked herself, "Is this really happening?"
Snyder was nominated for an Academy Award
for her short film Death by Numbers in 2025
and won a Peabody Award.
Her work through her art often advocates for social justice
and aims to help improve the lives of children.
Both of those objectives are on display tonight.
Librarians might not wear capes,
but they are most definitely heroes.
The Librarians starts now on PBS Wisconsin,
your home for independent film.