Santa Monica's Main Library will screen the Emmy-winning documentary "The Librarians" and host a panel on intellectual freedom on Wednesday, Oct. 7, as part of Banned Books Week.

The event begins at 5:30 p.m. at 601 Santa Monica Blvd. The 92-minute film follows librarians in Texas, Florida and other states as they push back against book bans. A panel discussion on censorship and intellectual freedom will follow the screening, the Santa Monica Public Library announced on X.

Two panelists are confirmed. Erin Spivey, a former Huntington Beach city librarian now running for Huntington Beach City Council, will speak alongside Charlie Jensen, director of PEN America Los Angeles, the free-expression organization's local chapter.

Spivey was a plaintiff in a lawsuit that challenged Huntington Beach's policy restricting children's access to certain library books. An Orange County judge ruled in September 2025 that the policy violated California's Freedom to Read Act. In April 2026, the same court ordered the city to pay roughly $960,000 in legal fees, the Orange County Register reported. The Huntington Beach City Council voted unanimously in October 2025 to appeal the ruling. The case remains pending.

"As a resident of Huntington Beach, it's incredibly frustrating to know we're losing another $1 million that could have been solved by just putting 10 books back where they belong," Spivey told the Register in April.

PEN America has documented nearly 23,000 book bans in public schools since 2021, according to the organization's banned books tracker. In the 2024–2025 school year alone, PEN America recorded 6,870 instances affecting nearly 4,000 unique titles.

Banned Books Week runs Sunday, Oct. 4 through Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, under the theme "Let Books Be — Protect the Freedom to Read." The documentary, directed by Kim A. Snyder with Sarah Jessica Parker as executive producer, premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and won a 2026 Primetime Emmy for exceptional merit in documentary filmmaking.