United for Libraries supports award-winning filmmakers raising funds for library documentary

For Immediate Release
Tue, 09/16/2014

Contact:

Jillian Kalonick

Markting/Public Relations Specialist

United for Libraries

jkalonick@ala.org

PHILADELPHIA — United for Libraries is asking library friends, foundations, trustees and all library advocates to support filmmak­ers Dawn Logsdon and Lucie Faulknor (Serendipity Films) as they ask library lovers across Amer­ica to help them make the first-ever national broadcast documentary about our nation’s public libraries.

“We feel it’s urgent to get this film done and out there, while so many communities are debating the future of their local libraries,” said Logsdon. The filmmakers are announcing their Kickstarter campaign for the documentary, titled “Free for All: Inside the Public Library.” They intend to raise $75,000 from Sept. 17 to Oct. 26. The resulting documentary will be ideal for Friends groups and other library advocates to show in their communities.

“We’re thrilled that United for Libraries is partnering with us in this effort,” Faulknor said. “We’ve received wonderful support already from indi­vidual friends chapters and founda­tions as we’ve begun visiting communi­ties to collect stories for the film.”

“Free for All” will tell the extraordi­nary tale of the nation’s most beloved public institution through individual human dramas unfolding within it. The project’s centerpiece is a 90-minute film, intended for national PBS broad­cast, that unravels as a “day-in-the-life” of the American public library This cinematic library “road trip” will explore why people are using their public libraries in record numbers, and the threat to democracy if they were to become extinct.

The filmmakers plan to use their Kickstarter funds to visit libraries across the U.S. to film library users, staff, friends and others who contribute to our free public library system. To donate to the Kickstarter campaign, visit http://kck.st/Zq79Of.

Serendipity Films, LLC has brought together seasoned professionals to lead this project, including Producer/Director Dawn Logsdon and Executive Producer Stanley Nelson, a MacArthur genius award recipient.  This Emmy award winning and Oscar--nominated team has helped create many seminal documentaries about American history and contemporary social issues including “Faubourg Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans” (2008) and “Freedom Riders” (2011). For more information about the project, visit www.free4allfilms.org.

United for Libraries: The Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations, is a division of the American Library Association that supports those who govern, promote, advocate, and fundraise for libraries. United for Libraries brings together library Trustees, advocates, Friends, and Foundations into a partnership that creates a powerful force for libraries in the 21st century. For more information or to join United for Libraries, visit the United for Libraries website or contact Jillian Kalonick at (312) 280-2161 or jkalonick@ala.org.