Call for Librarian Nominations for Documentary and Educational Films

American Library Association's Film and Media Round Table (FMRT) Notable Films for Adults Committee is accepting nominations from librarians for outstanding films. The Notable Films Committee selects up to 15 titles each year that represent the best films for libraries released in the past two years. Nominations for consideration for 2022's list are encouraged now and no later than January 15, 2022.

Titles must be nominated by librarians who are not directly affiliated with video producers or distributers, and who have viewed the film in its entirety.  

The five categories of films that we consider for inclusion are Animation (non-feature films), Documentary/Educational, Personal Essay, Performance and Video Art, and How-To or Instructional.  

We need your suggestions!  If you would like to recommend a film, please: 

1. Read the criteria and selection procedures 
2. Fill out a suggestion form for the film title(s) you nominate 

TITLES NOT CONSIDERED:  Please note that the committee does not consider feature films (i.e., non-documentary/non-educational) nor any documentaries solely available on commercial streaming services which do not offer institutional licensing to libraries (e.g., Netflix, HULU, HBO+, Disney+ etc.), unless the film title is also distributed in a format conducive to library access - such as current or anticipated release on DVD or Blu-ray or on any educational streaming video platform commonly found at academic or public libraries (e.g., Academic Video Online, Kanopy, Docuseek2, or others).

In 1998, the Film and Media Round Table established the Notable Videos for Adults list (now Notable Films for Adults), as a means of providing guidance to public and academic librarians involved in building dynamic and balanced video collections for an adult clientele. The list recognizes the growing number and enormous diversity of documentaries, educational and instructional titles, and performance works for adults available. Each year a committee comprised of FMRT members selects up to fifteen of the best educational, animation, personal essay, performance or how-to titles released during the previous and current calendar years. The committee makes its selections in late January. For more information, you can check out the list of previous winners.