In 2021, Texas state representative, Matt Krause, circulated a list of books that he believed should be pulled from schools. That list sent shockwaves through classrooms and libraries across the Lone Star State. Now, a new documentary is shining a spotlight on how book bans affect not just Black youth, but all youth.
Krause’s list, targeted titles that addressed race and sexuality. While some librarians quietly removed the books from libraries, others refused, risking their careers to defend access to banned titles. Their stories, and the ripple effects of that moment, form the backdrop of The Librarians, a new documentary from filmmaker Kim A. Snyder that premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and arrives is now in theaters.
The 92-minute film takes viewers inside school board meetings in both Texas and Florida. It is in these particular states that heated debates play out over what stories children are allowed to read. The documentary also follows Louisiana librarian Amanda Jones, who faced violent threats from her own community after speaking out against the book band. Snyder’s camera captures both the public clashes and the quieter consequences of fear, grief, and the loss of safe spaces for kids who need them most.
In one scene, Rev. Jeffrey Dove of Saint James AMES Church in Orange Park, Florida, gathers his youth group to talk about books by Black authors being challenged in their schools, including Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi, Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry, and The Color Purple by Alice Walker.
A young Black student, Arianna, shares how access to those books could have changed her own journey, “As a kid going to a predominantly White school, I was always questioning who I was. I feel like this would’ve made me feel more comfortable in my own skin.”
Others echo that sentiment. A transgender advocate in the film tells a town-hall audience, “Books like this say, ‘Hey you are loved, there is a community that will be there for you.’”
Librarian Amanda Jones, whose impassioned speech went viral, reminds viewers why representation matters. She shared a statistic that, LGBTQ+ youths who have “at least one accepting adult are 40% less likely to attempt suicide,” she says, adding, “Some kids don’t have those adults in their life. …”
The filmmaker told People Magazine in a recent interview that centering young voices was intentional, ““The nostalgia you feel sometimes about your first library card is connected to a feeling of freedom and choice as a child, of being able to explore all kinds of different worlds, subjects, characters that you might feel connected to because they make you feel less alone or more heard,” she says.
“Those are things that a lot of people feel close to in terms of the early stories — just storytelling that is connected to early development as a thinking human being,” Snyder continues.
The Librarians is now showing in theaters.
Photo Credit: The Librarians Instagram
