PLA Blog

The world premiere screening of The Hollywood Librarian: A look at librarians through film, left me with very mixed feelings. The film does an excellent job of using clips from movies like Desk Set, The Music Man, Love Story, Party Girl, and others, to juxtapose the image of librarians in film against the realities of librarianship, including clips from an awesome black-and-white vocational film, as well as interviews with myriad librarians from all corners of librarianship, many of whom were brought on stage after the screening to be recognized. The movie obviously moved the audience and instilled a sense of vindication, with good reason, and I believe that the film does have the potential to give new and different perspective to “civilians” who don’t really understand the library world.

After the screening, writer and director Ann Seidl explained her interesting distribution method for the film. The film has been moved into the finals for an independent film festival (if you know the name of the festival, please comment here and let me know, I can’t find it), so it will get some exposure. But, rather than sell the film to a distributor, Ann would like to grant rides to show the distribution DVD, as well as a package of comprehensive marketing and discussion materials, so that interested public libraries can show screenings themselves.

What she asks in return is that libraries charge money for the screenings, with 1/3 of the fee going to her production company, 1/3 of the fee covering distribution costs, and 1/3 of the fee going to the library showing the movie. Her idea is to use the library, which, according to the movie, provides more points of service than McDonald’s, to get the word out about the movie and its message. Sign ups for this distribution program begin tomorrow at Booth #4207 in the Exhibit Hall, where you can ask questions and give your feedback about the film.

For those who missed the film, you can watch the recently-released trailer: