This N ational Library Week join HKS Library & Research Services\, Harvard Law School Library\, local library leaders\, and Harvard policy experts for an exclusive campus screening of the new documentary The Librarians . The film explores the recent wave of book banning across the US and profiles the public librarians defending First Amendment freedoms. As t ensions escalate between lawmakers\, public leaders\, and community members \, the librarians excavate the extremist underpinnings fueling censorship e fforts. Despite facing harassment\, threats\, and laws aimed at criminalizi ng their work\, the librarians work tirelessly to ensure intellectual freed om for all members of their communities.
What happens when public lib raries come under threat for upholding democratic principles? Across the co untry\, public libraries have in recent years faced an unprecedented wave of censorship and book banning efforts< /a> – attempts to remove library materials based on perspectives some see a s harmful. These efforts have primarily targeted books about race and racis m\, books featuring LGBTQ+ perspectives\, and books for older readers that have sexual references or discuss sexual violence. In several cases\, these efforts have succeeded not only in getting books removed from library shel ves\, but in getting librarians fired or entire libraries shut down. In res ponding to these efforts\, public librarians have found themselves on the f rontlines of democracy. The Librarians tells the stories of these public librarians.
5:00-5:15PM -- Enjoy pizza and settle in
5:3 0-7:00PM -- Screening of The Librarians
7:00-7:30PM -- Panel discussion and audience Q&A\, featuring Kim Long\, Direct or\, Watertown Free Public Library & Timothy Patrick McCarthy\, Faculty Chair\, LGBTQI+ H uman Rights Program\, Harvard Kennedy School\; Lecturer on Education\, Harvard Graduate School of Education
CATEGORIES:Film ORGANIZER;CN="Emily Rider Neill":MAILTO:eneill@law.harvard.edu URL;VALUE=URI:https://hls.harvard.edu/events/democracy-speech-and-public-in stitutions-the-librarians-documentary-screening/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/TheLibrarians.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 DTSTART:20260308T070000 TZNAME:EDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR