Black Student Says Diverse Books Would’ve Made Her Feel ‘More Comfortable’

In 2021, Matt Krause, who was a Texas State Representative at the time, compiled a list of books that he felt should be taken out of schools. The list, distributed to school districts throughout the state and later made public, targeted titles about sexuality and race.

While it was unclear what actions would be taken next, he requested for libraries and schools to report back on if they have any books from the list and the funds used to acquire them.

The response? Panic from educational leaders and librarians throughout the state — some of whom quickly removed the books from their shelves while others risked their jobs to take a stand against censorship. 

The events that followed are detailed in the new documentary The Librarians, which premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival before hitting theaters on Friday, Oct. 3. 

From heated school board meetings throughout Texas and Florida, to a librarian becoming the subject of violent threats from her community in Louisiana, Kim A. Snyder’s powerful film exposes coordinated movements to fuel book bans, the criminalization of librarians and just how it affects youths nationwide. 

In the documentary, Rev. Jeffrey Dove of Saint James AMES Church in Orange Park, Fla. spoke to his youth group about books by Black authors being targeted in their community. The titles included 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.

Student Arianna McLennon spoke up during the meeting and shared that having access to those books when she was younger could have helped her build confidence. “As a kid going to a predominantly White school, I was always questioning who I was,” she shared.

“I feel like this would’ve made me feel more comfortable in my own skin,” McLennon continued, referring to New Kid by Jerry Craft and Hair Love.

Others weighed in about how book bans are affecting their communities and shared similar stories throughout the documentary’s 92-minute runtime.

“I don’t think you all understand what it’s like to grow up in an environment like this, where even your family members are constantly telling you that you’re going to burn in hell,” a transgender individual said while advocating for LGBTQ+ books at a town meeting. “Books like this say, ‘Hey you are loved, there is a community that will be there for you.’ ”

One former student expressed fear of those enforcing book bans after their librarian was threatened with legal action for not removing select titles from the school library. Officials were also able to obtain a list of students who checked out those books. 

“I’m definitely on that list,” the person said in an interview segment. “I was in the library literally every, single day of my senior year. That is really, really scary, and that is information that can be used in such an evil way.”

Louisiana librarian Amanda Jones delivered an impassioned speech at a public library board meeting, in which she shared a statistic that LGBTQ+ youths who have “at least one accepting adult are 40% less likely to attempt suicide.”

“Some kids don’t have those adults in their life,” the librarian said. “I have lost over 12 students who were ostracized because they were made to feel less-than in this parish. I feel it right now, even though I’m not from that community, from the hate that’s coming from some people in this room.”

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, filmmaker Snyder explains why it was important to spotlight youths in these conversations. 

“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.

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The Librarians features interviews from local librarians Jones, Becky Calzada, Carolyn Foote, Suzette Baker, Julie Miller and more. Other participants include Rev. Dove, Co-Founder of Texas Freedom to Read Project Laney Hawes, Granbury ISD board president Courtney Gore, local advocate Weston Brown, among others. 

The Librarians is now playing in theaters.