 Hi, welcome to another CTN member highlight. I'm Leslie McVane, and my guest today is Patty Deloise from the Portland Public Library. Hi, Patty. Hi. Well, we're going to be talking about the Civil Rights Film Festival that's going on now for the month of January. And it's an appropriate time because of Martin Luther King Day coming up. Tell me how you got these fabulous films. Well, we've been collecting films from California Newsreel, who produces them. We've been collecting them for several years. And we just thought that they don't circulate enough and people don't know about them. And so we wanted to give the public a chance to see them. And as you say, this is an appropriate time. And to have them at the library where a number of people can come and have discussion after. Does that happen after these films? A lot of people don't want to stay and have a discussion. But we hope that people are stimulated to talk about them with each other, with their friends, to tell other people what they've seen. And if they do want to stay, there's somebody there to facilitate discussion. Yes. I know I've been to the film festivals in the past that you've held. You do these month-long series. And they're wonderful. They're absolutely wonderful. And to have a place where you can watch it on a big screen with other people, it does stimulate thought. It does. And I think when you see films like this in a community setting with other members of the community, as I say, it stimulates discussion. And I hope that it encourages people to be in touch with things that go on in the community, with things that go on in the larger world, and also to connect with the history that's being documented in the film. Yes. And right now with all that's happening in the world, in our country, in France, everywhere, civil justice and civil rights, racial issues, it's really timely that you're showing these films so that people can have some perspective on the history of, in this case, race relations and civil rights in this country. Yes. And I think the films do give a sense of continuity and a sense of history and a sense that this isn't something new that we're just starting these struggles. This has been going on for a long time. Ongoing, yes. And these films, they're an excellent series, and they document how hard the struggle has been and what the sacrifices have been, and really highlight the fact that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. And really make a difference. And these films, at least some of them, are award-winning films that have been recognized for their content. Yes, some of them have won awards at film festivals. The film we watched last week was done by Stanley Nelson. I don't know if you're familiar with him, but he's an excellent filmmaker, has won many awards. And the California Newsreel, where you get these films, has been collecting social justice-related films since the 60s. Yep, since 1968. Yeah, and I think that in itself was quite smart on their part to be collecting our history, a part of our history that maybe other people weren't thinking about so much as far as collecting it. And aren't you lucky that you were able to acquire some of these films? Yes, and we'd like to acquire more. They have a huge catalog, and we'd like to get as many as we can so that people can see them. Because these aren't things that you might see them on PBS occasionally, but they're not things you're going to find in a video store or they're not really accessible. And that's why we are able to buy it from them and make it accessible to everybody. I went to their web page just to see, and it is costly if you want to do something with the film. So we're lucky that we have you to provide these for us. And they do have an amazing catalog of various social justice issues that you can tap into. Do you have any kind of funding specifically for these videos? We don't at this time. But they do give us kind of a break in the price because we are a public library. And they do allow us to show them in community settings. So they are doing their best to get those films out there too. Well, I'm looking forward to attending some of these. And I hope that you'll continue with a series, if not this particular one, another, and let people know more about how they might contribute to this in some way to help you provide this for our community. It's really, really important at this point in history, I think, to remember, as you say, our past, which is our present and hopefully not our future. Hopefully it will make a difference so people can change. I want to do one more plug for your library on my way to work this morning. I stopped in and looked at the fabulous photo exhibit that's there right now. And I just hope all our viewers will take the time to go and see that. It's a little bit about the history of Portland with the old photos from the Press Herald. But it's the current history as well with the new photographers and the new work that the Press Herald's doing. It's a lovely exhibit. You might want to talk with Abraham Schecter. He's our Portland Room librarian, and he put that exhibit together. Well, it's wonderful, and it complements what you're doing with the videos. So the people can come Thursday nights, 6.30, and just take the time to see the photo exhibit as well as the videos. And if people can't come to the showing of the films, they are available to be checked out. That's wonderful. Thank you so much. Thank you.