Will "The Librarians: The Next Chapter" make Libraries cool again?
- Greg Rabidoux
- May 26
- 2 min read
By Greg Rabidoux
Probably not. But it's what libraries have always represented we need to preserve and protect.
Imagination. Wonder. Curiosity. A lifelong love of learning.

Producer Dean Devlin and TNT are hoping that their revival of The Librarians trilogy (Quest for the Spear 2004, Return to King Solomon's Mines 2006, and Curse of the Judas Chalice 2008) draws a huge audience and, as they said at a recent press junket, helps spark a renewed interest in the power of our libraries and librarians.
While the former seems likely the latter may be on life support. In recent years, a number of our 17,000 public libraries have gained more attention for their sponsorship of Drag Queen story hours, attracting homeless squatters, and their choice to go digital while thinning out, even totally replacing its books from its shelves. And our university libraries either seem to be hosting anti-Israel take-overs like at Columbia University library recently where "student" protesters scrawled "Columbia U will burn" where books used to be, or, like where I teach, a newly built "library" seems designed solely as a large space for students to plug-in and upload not pull a book off a shelf and read.
But honestly, who can blame our librarians or their administrators? For years now, books have become life preservers in search of survivors. The vast majority of what could have been a new generation of readers are instead social media butterflies, video gamers, and Tik Tok keyboard warriors. Who has time for books anymore? Or, the better question, who makes time for books? Answer, a dwindling percentage of all of us. And that often translates to a lack of using our own, human imagination, our own critical thinking, and our own problem-solving skills. And if you think AI will reverse any of these trends then I have a book for you to read about the coming obsolescence of humans, if only I could find it among all of these library computer apps. libraries push to try and make themselves relevant again.
While poets may never again liken holding an armful of books to holding warm, fresh loaves of bread, ready to be consumed, it's what libraries used to represent that we need to make cool again. Learning. A thirst for knowledge. Letting our imaginations take us on magical journeys as we navigate the pages of a novel rather than asking "Alexa" to simply do our thinking for us. Because when you stop thinking you cease being human. And there's far too much of that going on these days.
Greg Rabidoux is an award-winning filmmaker, screenwriter, and author. And he lost count of the many hours growing up he spent reading books, watching films and imagining.
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