Slideshow
THE LIBRARIANS
Q&A with Filmmaker Kim A. Snyder, Subjects Audrey Wilson-Youngblood & Martha Hickson, and Producer Maria Cuomo Cole, Co-Presented by PEN America
Friday, October 3
7:00
Introduced by Jonathan Friedman, Sy Syms Managing Director, U.S. Free Expression Programs, PEN America
Moderated by Juju Chang, Co-Anchor ABC News, Nightline
NOTE: This screening is SOLD OUT.
A standby line will form at the box office 30 minutes prior to showtime.
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world.
Kim A. Snyder is an Academy Award® nominee and Peabody Award-winning Director / Producer whose latest feature, THE LIBRARIANS, premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Her Oscar®-nominated short Death By Numbers, co-created with gun-violence survivor Sam Fuentes, has won multiple awards. Snyder’s acclaimed films include US KIDS (Sundance 2020), Lessons From A School Shooting (Netflix Original), and NEWTOWN (Sundance 2016, Peabody Award, PBS). Her earlier work includes WELCOME TO SHELBYVILLE (PBS) and I REMEMBER ME (Zeitgeist Films). She also associate produced the Oscar®-winning short Trevor, which spawned The Trevor Project. Snyder holds a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from Johns Hopkins SAIS and lives in New York City.
Audrey Wilson-Youngblood is an educator with over two decades of experience in K-12 and higher education. Throughout her career as a teacher, librarian, and leader, she’s been an advocate for student writers and readers, promoting literacy and the free and open exchange of ideas in library spaces. With experience in both school and academic libraries, Audrey is pursuing her PhD in Information Science with the goal of becoming a library educator to prepare and mentor the next generation of librarians.
Martha Hickson recently retired after 20 years as a high school librarian. Her work has been featured in School Library Journal, Booklist, and CNN Online. Her defense of intellectual freedom has been recognized with awards from the New Jersey Association of School Librarians, the New Jersey Library Association, the American Association of School Librarians, and the National Council of Teachers of English. In 2022, the National Coalition Against Censorship presented Martha with the Judith Krug Outstanding Librarian Award, and the American Library Association awarded Martha with the Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced with Adversity in recognition of her “energy and bravery in the face of ... persistent and ongoing hostility,” while advocating for students’ First Amendment right to read.
Peabody and Emmy Award-winning producer Maria Cuomo Cole’s credits include the Oscar®-nominated Death By Numbers (2024, Montclair – Best Short Doc), US KIDS (Sundance 2020), LESSONS FROM A SCHOOL SHOOTING... (Netflix), NEWTOWN (Sundance 2016) and Oscar®-shortlisted Living for 32 (2010), EP: THE HUNTING GROUND (2015), and Oscar®-nominated THE INVISIBLE WAR (2014).
Juju Chang is a multiple Emmy Award-winning co-anchor of ABC News’ Nightline. She also reports regularly for Good Morning America and 20/20.
Jonathan Friedman, Ph.D., is the Sy Syms managing director of U.S. free expression programs at PEN America. He oversees research, advocacy, and education related to academic freedom, educational gag orders, book bans, and general free expression in schools, colleges, and universities. Read more.
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