Required Viewing for Library Advocates
As I write this, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) just scored an important—but temporary—victory: a federal judge granted a restraining order preventing the Trump Administration from dismantling the agency, just days before nearly all IMLS employees were set to be laid off. But the fight is far from over.
Congress still needs to act to ensure IMLS receives the funding it needs to support libraries and communities nationwide. We can’t take this moment for granted. If you care about the future of public libraries, now is the time to get involved. Learn what you can do to help secure full congressional funding at the American Library Association’s #FundLibraries campaign page.
Looking for a little inspiration? Free for All: The Public Library and Banned Together are two powerful new documentaries that every library advocate should see. These films will ignite your passion and prepare you to stand up, speak out, and take action.
Free for All: The Public Library (2025)
Where to watch: PBS
In 2016, I was serving as Head of Youth Services at Livingston Parish Library in Louisiana when a devastating, no-name flood submerged over a third of our parish. It wasn’t a hurricane—just relentless rain that changed everything. In the aftermath, our librarians set up in shelters, reading to children while their parents filled out FEMA applications. We brought in laptops and hotspots to help people reconnect, rebuild, and breathe.
The author with the “Free For All” film crew and library patrons. Photo courtesy of the author.
The Free for All: The Public Library film crew visited us during that time. They interviewed our team, captured footage of the quiet, determined work happening in those shelters. Our story didn’t make it into the final cut—but that was on my mind as I watched the documentary. How many other stories didn’t make it in? How many library workers have stepped up, quietly serving their communities through crisis after crisis—unseen, unheard?
That’s why Free for All: The Public Library feels so personal. It speaks to the heart of the work so many of
us have devoted our lives to: building a world where everyone, no matter their background or income, has free access to knowledge, stories, and a safe place to belong.
From the pioneering women of the Free Library Movement to the librarians still showing up today—through budget cuts, book bans, natural disasters, and rising political pressure—this film honors the everyday heroes who keep the doors open because we believe in equity, learning, and community for all.
To hear just a few of those stories, I hope you’ll take the time to watch Free for All: The Public Library, now streaming for free at PBS.org.
Banned Together (2024)
Where to watch: Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Kanopy
Amid a disturbing rise in book bans across the country, Banned Together shines a spotlight on a group of young people who refuse to stay silent. This powerful new documentary follows a diverse group of high school students as they confront censorship head-on—through public protests, tense school board meetings, private threats, and even criminal charges. It’s an intense, emotional look at what happens when students and their allies take a stand for the freedom to read.
From the opening scene to the final credits, Banned Together explores two of the most polarizing issues facing public education today: book bans and curriculum censorship. The film centers on three determined students and the adults who support them as they fight to reinstate 97 titles that were suddenly pulled from their school libraries.
Their journey—from a local struggle to a national movement—brings them face-to-face with banned authors, elected officials, and Constitutional experts, revealing the deeper forces behind this accelerating wave of censorship.
As a public librarian, this film hit me hard. It’s both infuriating and deeply inspiring. If you care about intellectual freedom, students’ rights, or the role of libraries and schools in a healthy democracy, I hope you’ll take the time to watch Banned Together, now streaming on Amazon Prime and Apple TV+.
Resources:
https://www.bannedtogetherdoc.com/
https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/free-for-all/
https://www.ala.org/advocacy/fund-libraries
