The “Hollywood Librarian: A Look at Librarians Through Film” is the first full-length documentary film to focus on the work and lives of librarians. The Library and the Information Science Library will screen the new film at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 2 and 5 in Room 126 LIS Building. A portion of the proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the LIS library. Tickets, available at the door, are $8 for adults and $5 for children and seniors. Admission is free for librarians, library employees, and LIS students.

Using the context of American movies, the film will hold some surprises for people who may think they know what librarians do. American film contains hundreds of examples of librarians and libraries on screen – some positive, some negative, some laughable and some dead wrong. Dozens of interviews of real librarians will be interwoven with movie clips of cinematic librarians and serve as transitions between the themes of censorship, intellectual freedom, children and librarians, pay equity and funding issues, and the value of reading. “The Hollywood Librarian” is being released nationwide during Banned Books Week as a fundraiser for libraries. It is an independent film, written and directed by Ann M. Seidl and produced by her company, Overdue Productions.

For background on the film and early reviews, visit the film’s Web site: www.hollywoodlibrarian.com.

From the website,

“The Hollywood Librarian is an illuminating portrait of librarians as they have been portrayed in the movies–often bespectacled, occasionally glamorous, sometimes too brainy for their own good—juxtaposed with the real-life librarians, both men and women, who are the gatekeepers of knowledge in an increasingly digital and globalizing world. A touching, amusing, insightful and entirely delightful film, The Hollywood Librarian also manages to make critical points about how censorship still intrudes on our lives and how the freedom to read remains a right we must all defend.”

~Vartan Gregorian
President, Carnegie
Corporation of New York

I’ve got a conflict on Tuesday night, but I plan on going to the Friday night showing. Too bad I don’t have a corduroy blazer with elbow patches and tortoise shell (or solid black plastic) rectangular glasses. If you want to come with, let me know.