A few weeks ago, I joined about 40 others at the Carbon Arc Cinema in Halifax to watch a screening of an independent film called The Librarians.

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Not to be confused with the action-packed television series of the same name, the documentary was no less compelling. It told the story of how, in recent months, a new type of hero has emerged in the battle for control of America’s cultural conscience.

Mild-mannered librarians, who once could lay claim to only possessing enough authority to enact a well-timed “Shush!” have been dragged, rather unceremoniously, into the culture wars.

The film documents how, starting in 2021, librarians and the collections they curate came under tremendous public scrutiny. That year a list of 850 books was sent to Texas school superintendents by state legislator Matt Krause. The list was accompanied by a directive that superintendents provide information about how many copies the districts had of each book and how much money had been spent purchasing them. The impetus for the letter, it seems, was that many jurisdictions in Texas had already been removing certain books from school libraries in response to “parent and taxpayer” complaints.

There was no rationale provided for why these books, in particular, were targeted, nor, indeed, what organization had put the list together. Regardless, the Krause List, as it became known, became a rallying point for groups that wished to remove “pornographic” or “un-American” literature from libraries. These included any books documenting the Roe v. Wade decision,........

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