Raise your library voice! Celebrate Freedom to Read by joining your local libraries for a screening of the 2025 documentary The Librarians.
Join us for the screening and a short discussion with local librarians and academics on book bans and challenges here in Canada — and hear about how we can all defend our right to intellectual freedom.
About the documentary The Librarians
As an unprecedented wave of book banning 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.
THE LIBRARIANS offers a rattling look at coordinated efforts to ban books. More importantly, it introduces viewers to the everyday and increasingly vital heroes pushing back: the librarians who sound the alarm to both legislative and grassroots attempts to pull books from school and public libraries.
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 White Christian Nationalism 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.
“This movie reminds us there is just one way to separate truth from propaganda: learning.” (RogerEbert.com)
“The film shows it’s not really about the books; it is about power.” (The Tyee)
“From its superb opening-credits sequence paying tribute to card catalogs of yore to its sharp selection of vintage clips and intimate reportage, “The Librarians” is as well-crafted as it is profoundly alarming.” (New York Times)
This event is presented in partnership with Rio Theatre, Simon Fraser University Library, and North Vancouver District Public Library, with event sponsorship from Vancouver Public Library.