ANN SEIDL’S THE HOLLYWOOD LIBRARIAN BLENDS AN ENTERTAINING ARRAY OF CLASSIC AND RARE FILM CLIPS ABOUT LIBRARIANS WITH CONTEMPORARY FOOTAGE AND INTERVIEWS ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF LIBRARIES AND THE CHALLENGES FACING LIBRARIANS.

American cinema contains hundreds of examples of libraries and librarians on screen. Films such as Sophie’s Choice, Philadelphia and It’s a Wonderful Life show librarians as negative stereotypes. On the other hand, the librarians in Lorenzo’s Oil, Desk Set and The Shawshank Redemption are competent and professional. In the film, dozens of interviews with real librarians are interwoven with clips of movie librarians as Seidl explores issues of censorship, intellectual freedom, funding and the value of reading. The real and fictional elements come together to telling effect in the film’s interview with the late Peg Perry, a gravel-voiced librarian who happened to be the sister of Katherine Hepburn, star of the classic librarian movie Desk Set, which receives due recognition in Seidl’s charming blend of humour and critical analysis.The director, Anne Seidl, will give a 15-minute Q&A following this screening.