Florida elementary school librarian Marie Masferrer, one of the subjects of the documentary The Librarians, screening Sat/21 as part of Frameline (tickets are at rush), thought the principal was on her side when it came to the subject of keeping books on the shelves for students to read despite pressure from the state.
That is, until the principal pulled several LGBT titles.
Masferrer wasn’t having that, and went so as far as to tell kids at their fifth-grade graduation, “Once anyone tries to ban a book, I always ask why.” The principal responded by forbidding Masferrer from speaking at upcoming award ceremonies.
“The union came to my defense and got me back on campus, and the district backed me up,” Masferrer tells 48hills. “I think that made her even more angry. She locked me in the library and threatened my job. So, I had a teeny, tiny piece happen to me that happened to all the other librarians.”
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Kim A. Snyder’s documentary, executive produced by Sarah Jessica Parker, travels to Texas, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, and other states to shine a light on the conservative war on books. The movie tracks how politicians, school boards, and the curiously well-funded Moms for Liberty’s determination to keep subjects they deem to be inappropriate out of students’ hands. Librarians, at the risk of their careers and standing in their churches and communities, are shown being equally dedicated to ensuring those books remain available.
What ignited Snyder’s interest in the subject was a list of 850 books compiled by Texas Representative Matt Krause in 2021 that he said, “might make students feel discomfort.” It had a heavy emphasis on titles with LGBT, civil rights, and even historical subject matter. Among its volumes are Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste, Rob Sanders’ Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag, Ibram X. Kendi’s How to Be an Antiracist, Jazz Jennings’ Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teenager, and Jeffrey Eugenides’ Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Middlesex.
“When I saw the story about the list, it felt like the match,” Snyder says. “Reading about these freedom fighters, these librarians who were organizing to fight back… I started following and met Marie and others.
“You can throw a dart at the country map and see this spread,” she adds. “We have librarians in lots of different places saying, ‘You know, this happened to me.’”
Sponsored link
Masferrer points out the issue isn’t just about the First Amendment and the right to read, but also the fact that the very books that tend to end up on banned lists are the ones most vital to students at vulnerable times in their lives.
The principal who locked Masferrer in the library was also the person who alerted her that there were two trans children enrolled in their school. The librarian responded by adding Jennings’ book and a few others so those students would have books to read that would reflect their experiences. When a Florida House bill targeted school libraries and specifically books with LGBT content, one of the students asked Masferrer what was going to happen to the books in their library.
“I promised them, I said, they’ll have to haul me out in handcuffs [before they take those books away],” she says. “But I am not giving up one of my books, because in elementary school, every book, every LGBTQ-focused or one that has characters, it’s about acceptance of yourself, acceptance of others, and kindness.
“And I came to the schoolboard, and I said, just replace LGBTQ with Black, and we’re back to 1952. To me, I see it the same way.”
The Librarians paints a damning portrait of what librarians are facing in our authoritarian age. Masferrer observes that some of her colleagues crumble and acquiesce to the bans. But the heroines of Snyder’s film—all of the librarians are women, to be expected for a profession in which over 80 percent are female—are united in their passion for maintaining the integrity of their institutions and the availability of books.
In their actions and spirit, Snyder sees a lesson.
“I think there’s modeling and an opportunity in the film for people to feel that, even if you feel helpless and hopeless at times with what’s going on a national level, you have agency in your little local community,” Snyder says. “That grassroots spirit is what I have hope in right now in this country.”
Masferrer also sees a lesson in The Librarians, one that is personal to her as part of her role as the conduit between books and their readers.
“When you see yourself in a book of any color, any background, any orientation, when you see yourself in the book, then you get it,” she says. “And that’s really what I’d like to do. Anyone who wants to ban a book, I would like to hand them a book that is truly a reflection of who they are, because it really brings home why these books make such a difference to all of our kids.”
THE LIBRARIANS screens 1:30pm, Sat/21. Vogue Theatre, SF. More info here.
