Free for All Film and Panel Discussion

Join us at the North Fork Arts Center for a special evening exploring the vital role of public libraries in American democracy. The program will begin with a half-hour panel discussion featuring North Fork librarians as they reflect on the challenges and the future of libraries in our own communities, followed by a screening of Free for All. Don’t miss this engaging night of conversation and film!

Free for All: Inside the Public Library tells the story of the quiet revolutionaries who made a simple idea happen. From the pioneering women behind the “Free Library Movement” to today’s librarians who serve the public despite working in a contentious age of closures and book bans, meet those who created a civic institution where everything is free and the doors are open to all. (Runtime: 90 minutes)

The panel will feature North Fork Directors Ellen Nasto (Floyd Memorial Library), Caroline MacArthur (Southold Free Library), Rosemary Winters (Cutchogue New Suffolk Free Library), and Shauna Scholl (Mattituck-Laurel Library). Panelists will share personal reflections, discuss the realities of public service in today’s libraries, and explore how libraries continue to serve as vital spaces for learning, access, and connection amid shifting social and political landscapes.

This is a timely conversation for anyone interested in the future of public institutions, equitable access to information, and the essential work of those who keep our libraries thriving.