Days after Utah banned its 15th book from all public schools, an independent film following the pressures school librarians face received a warm welcome from a Salt Lake City crowd at the Sundance Film Festival.
“The Librarians,” a documentary by Kim A. Snyder, follows a handful of school librarians across the country — including in states like Texas, Florida and New Jersey — as they navigate a wave of book bans.
Many of the librarians featured in the film were present for a Q&A after the screening at Broadway Cinemas on Sunday, and over a dozen Utah librarians were also in the crowd.
When the Q&A started, Snyder said, “I’m just going to start by acknowledging that it’s very poignant to be here in Utah, where I know a lot of things are happening very recently.”
In 2021, nine books became the center of a bitter censorship battle in the Canyons School District. In the Davis School District alone, taxpayers paid $27,000 for the district to review 100 titles over the course of two school years, with 13 books ultimately being banned.
Last week, Utah banned “Damsel,” a dark, feminist fairytale by Elena K. Arnold, from all public schools. Of the 15 books banned in the Beehive State, all but one was written by a woman.
Utah librarians have played a major role in the battle over banning books, listening to concerns and speaking with parents.
“The Librarians” focuses on mass-ban lists proposed by parent groups, or in some cases, by government officials like Texas state Rep. Matt Krause, who pursued banning a list of 850 books.
The librarians featured in the film detail allegations of being fired, harassed, stalked and targeted for asking questions about why they must pull books from shelves.
The film is also partnering with PEN America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection of free expression. The organization found that the “highest instances of book bans” — more than 10,000 — occurred last school year.
Jonathan Friedman, a managing director with PEN America, was at the screening and said he hopes that librarians who see the film can see they are not alone in their fights.
Rebekah Cummings, a librarian and co-founder of Let Utah Read, a group dedicated to “preserving Americans’ right to read,” said she loved how the film shined a light on librarians.
“As librarians, we’re always saying how important it is to see yourself in books or to see yourself in stories,” Cummings said. “It was a really powerful moment to see our experience reflected ... it’s been hard in libraries over the past few years, championing the books and the communities we care about.”
Peter Bromberg, the associate director of Every Library, another reading advocacy group, said the film also captures the negative impact book bans can have on students.
“This really is not always necessarily about the books ... this is about trying to control people,” Bromberg said.
The film is bracketed by quotes from books that have been challenged in the past in the United States, such as “Fahrenheit 451″ by Ray Bradbury, “Ulysses” by James Joyce and “Beloved” by Toni Morrison.
George M. Johnson, author of “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” also attended the screening. The American Library Association named Johnson’s book the second-most banned and challenged book in the United States in 2023. In Utah, it was one of nine books that caused an uproar in the Canyons School District in 2021, but ultimately was not banned.
“I could have never thought [my book] would be at the center of political upheaval and conversation,” Johnson said. “But what I do know is that books save lives. It is why, despite the attempts to silence me, I continue to write queer books.”
The librarians featured in the film were met with a standing ovation from the Salt Lake City crowd. One of those librarians, Becky Caldaza from Texas, said what keeps her hopeful is when communities engage, whether it’s students, parents, or supporters who speak out at school board meetings or elsewhere.
Despite being one of the leading states in the country in book bans in the past few years, Utah authors and advocates continue to push back against censorship efforts.
