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Free Preview Screening – Free for All: The Public Library Documentary

February 8 @ 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Free

Stillwater County Library and Montana PBS presents Free for All: The Public Library

What to expect:

1:00 pm – Open seating will be available.  The Stillwater County Library Foundation will be selling cash concessions to benefit the Stillwater County Mobile Library.

1:30 pm – Showing of Free for All: The Public Library

2:30 pm – Panel Discussion

Before and after the event, participants will have an opportunity to write short responses to the following questions on a sticky note or postcard (to send to someone afterwards): Why do you love your public library? What does your public library mean to you? What would you change at your public library? Sticky notes will be displayed for other patrons to read after the event.

Event is free, but RSVP requested below.

Can’t make it to the showing?

A second free showing will be at Stillwater County Library Monday, February 10th at 4 pm.  No concessions will be available, but there will be a discussion afterwards.

FILM SYNOPSIS AND OVERVIEW

The public library is one of America’s most valued, yet endangered institutions. The public library system was founded on a visionary principle—to create a place where anyone can enter and encounter a universe of ideas, free of charge. Free for All: The Public Library chronicles the evolution of the nation’s public libraries, tracing the battles over who can enter, what belongs there, and who makes these decisions while exploring how public spaces are defined and defended.

Director Dawn Logsdon travels the United States, discovering unsung historic and modern-day figures, often women, who contributed to the library’s integral position within democracy. Ernestine Rose was an early pioneer who provided books in languages such as Yiddish and Chinese to her immigrant Manhattan neighborhood.1 She also hired the New York Public Library’s (NYPL) first African American librarians. One was Regina Andrews, who in 1938, became the first Black librarian to officially lead an NYPL branch, the 115th Street Library. As a librarian of the 135th Street branch (now the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture), Andrews helped transform this branch into an intellectual and artistic hub of the Harlem Renaissance. And the impact of these female librarians continues into our contemporary era. In a rural Wisconsin town, librarian Elizabeth Timmins now knows all her patrons’ names and literary preferences. Tameka Roby is a library outreach worker in Louisiana who drives the East Baton Rouge bookmobile, providing books and various other services to kids, families, and seniors.

Free for All: The Public Library charts the institution’s trajectory, from America’s original Free Library Movement that began in the mid–19th century to current struggles in a digital age amidst budget cuts, closures, and polarizing book bans.2 Following the stories of public library visitors and staff striving to implement innovative policies, the film celebrates a civic institution whose offerings are free and whose doors are open to all.

SCREENING OBJECTIVES

Indie Lens Pop-Up screenings of Free for All: The Public Library will pursue the following objectives:

  • Celebrate the knowledge and contributions of the librarians and staff who work at our public libraries
  • Showcase libraries’ value to their communities by engaging attendees with local library programming
  • Illuminate untold histories of the women who shaped public libraries and the library movement
  • Emphasize how public goods (such as public libraries, public parks, and public media) contribute to our democracy
  • Prompt thoughtful conversations about issues like privacy, equity, and intellectual freedom

TOPICS AND THEMES

Free for All: The Public Library explores several central themes, all of which can prompt further discussion about the influence of public libraries and other public institutions in our society. The topics and themes described below are potential ways to frame your events and post-film conversations. American Democracy, Civic Ideals, and the Public Square

“The public” is central to the American experiment. Our democracy rests upon an enduring ideal of demos—“we the people.” And our democracy also rests upon the free availability of information necessary for upholding our civic institutions and fostering healthy public debate. Free for All: The Public Library highlights the central role that public libraries have played in making educational resources and information more widely available and accessible for the American people. Libraries—among other public media and public education institutions—are the cornerstone of our deepest civic principles because they support the generally educated citizenry in ways that enable a democracy to function and persist.

Literacy and Citizenship

Books contain powerful ideas that can open up the world for each of us. These ideas can transport us into unexpected stories, places, and perspectives far beyond our individual experiences.

Literacy is also a powerful component of democratic citizenship. The ability to read goes hand-in-hand with knowing how to gather information, learning how to think critically, and then being able to express views through the voting process. As Free for All: The Public Library highlights, the ability to read has also been contested ground in our national and local politics. In the 19th century, literacy became one of the much-surveilled lines between citizen and slave.3 Since then, literacy has been a core part of voting laws and opportunities for public participation. Today, it continues to be a fundamental skill for claiming a place within our society.

Women’s Contributions to the Public Library Movement America’s Free Library Movement was largely staffed and propelled by women, especially in the small town and rural libraries that made books more widely available across the country. Many of America’s first female librarians seized new professional opportunities through the development and expansion of the public library system, even into the nation’s most far-flung and underserved areas.

Not only did women find new opportunities in the public library system, but also they were a driving force in making the development and expansion happen, playing a central role in getting the majority of small town libraries built. Then they volunteered to help keep them running as well as funded, often under the auspices of the local women’s club.

In celebrating libraries and the contributions of librarians to our democracy, this film brings to light little-known stories of the women who made this movement possible.

FREE FOR ALL: THE PUBLIC LIBRARY Segregation, Immigration, and Racial Justice Racist segregation policies, combined with negative attitudes toward immigrants and cultural assimilation, have directly shaped our public libraries, as they have shaped many other public spaces in America. While the earliest public libraries excluded African Americans by law, they also played a central role in integrating new immigrants into American society and helping them learn English—with all the linguistic and social tensions that assimilation contains.

Free for All: The Public Library reveals the history of segregation, immigration, and racial justice. In many respects, the story of public libraries mirrors the story of America: its aspirations for freedom and equality, alongside the ongoing effort to realize those ideals more fully.

Libraries and Contemporary Public Services In the 21st century, public libraries aren’t just about books. They frequently provide other services, including opportunities for immigrants ranging from technology resources to language classes. They serve as gathering spaces for people to find community, especially those who have few resources or may need more sources of public support. During an era of the vanishing public square, as well as increasing social isolation and political fragmentation, our local public libraries provide essential places for us to mingle with our fellow citizens.

As this film highlights, the job of a librarian is changing in our contemporary era. Yes, librarians serve patrons and manage collections and other library resources. But they also can be called upon to step in as impromptu social workers in many communities, helping bridge gaps in public services as they serve as first responders to people in crisis. In addition, when we consider the current role of the public library in America, we can discuss how to sustain other public resources, including public news and television media, that help uphold our social fabric. And we can also consider how to help ensure that people know how to maintain their information literacy in a world of “fake news.”

 

 

Details

Date:
February 8
Time:
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Cost:
Free
Event Tags:
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Venue

Civic Center
16 Sheep Dip Road
Columbus, MT 59019 United States
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