Join us at the West End Branch Library to screen a new documentary, Free for All: The Public Library. The film 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.

Directors Dawn Logsdon and Lucie Faulknor traveled the US, discovering unsung historic and modern-day figures, often women, who contributed to the library’s integral position within democracy. The film 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. Following the stories of public library visitors and staff striving to implement innovative policies, the documentary celebrates a civic institution whose offerings are free and whose doors are open to all.

There will be time for a discussion of the film after the viewing.