"The Librarians" – On Censorship and Book Bans
About this Event
Join the Los Angeles Public Library & the Thomas Mann House Los Angeles for a public screening of the award-winning documentary film The Librarians (2025)!
The film follows librarians across the United States who resist growing efforts to ban books from schools and public libraries. Facing harassment, threats, and the risk of losing their jobs, they emerge as courageous defenders of intellectual freedom, young people’s access to information, and democratic rights. In celebration of the Los Angeles Public Library’s 100th anniversary and on the occasion of Banned Book Week 2026, the Thomas Mann House Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Public Library invite to a screening of the film, followed by an in-depth discussion featuring Kim Snyder, Oscar-nominated and Peabody award-winning filmmaker and director of The Librarians, John Szabo, the City Librarian of the Los Angeles Public Library, and Taylor Dwyer, USC Special Collections Librarian. Moderated by Nikki High, owner of the independent bookshop Octavia's Bookshelf.
This event will be seated on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations are encouraged but not required.
Libraries are more than repositories of books: they are essential democratic institutions that provide access to knowledge, preserve diverse perspectives, and create spaces for open inquiry. Librarians play a vital role in protecting these spaces and ensuring that information remains accessible to all, even in the face of political pressure and censorship. Thomas Mann, whose works were banned in Nazi Germany before he was forced into exile in Los Angeles, understood firsthand what is at stake when access to ideas is restricted. The program asks what it means to defend the freedom to read today, and how libraries, cultural institutions, and citizens can uphold the open exchange of ideas on which democracy depends.
About the Film
"Librarians 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 – 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 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.” The Librarians has won 30 film-festival awards. It has also been nominated for a 2026 Primetime Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking.
This event will take place at the Mark Taper Auditorium at the Central Library, 630 W. Fifth St., Los Angeles, CA 90071. It is open to the public and free of charge.
This program will be translated by a live ASL interpreter. For ADA accommodations, please call (213) 228-7430 at least 72 hours prior to the event.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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