Director: Kim A. Snyder
Duration: 88 min
Year: 2025

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Admission to this film is free with registration, courtesy of the Hawaiʻi Library Association, American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaiʻi, Friends of the Library of Hawaiʻi, Hawaiʻi Association of School Librarians, and University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Library & Information Science Program.

If you thought libraries wouldn’t make dramatic subject matter for a documentary, this film will change your mind. America’s war on books is about more than words. Librarians are being criminally investigated and arrested. In this moving—and shocking—look at the government’s attack on librarians, these individuals who are traditionally seen as mild-mannered pillars of communities across the country emerge as first responders in the fight for democracy and our First Amendment Rights. As they well know, controlling the flow of ideas means control over communities.

In Texas, the Krause List targets 850 books focused on race and LGBTQia+ stories—it hastriggered sweeping book bans across the US 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 extremism 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.

Post-screening discussion with Stacey Aldrich (State Librarian, Hawaiʻi State Public Library System), Danielle Fujii (School Librarian, Kalaheo High School; Former President of the Hawaiʻi Association of School Librarians), and Leilani Stacy (Immigrants' Rights Attorney, ACLU of Hawaiʻi) to follow. Moderated by Jenny Foster (State Law Librarian, and former President of both the Hawaiʻi Library Association and the American Association of Law Libraries).