When Parwinder Grewal, then-president of Vermont State University, announced his plan in February 2023 to eliminate most of the physical books from the state college system’s libraries and switch to an all-digital library, students, faculty and staff described his decision in many ways, none of them flattering: “shocking,” “embarrassing,” “surreal,” “patriarchal” “ableist” and “a joke,” to name a few.

For the students in Sam Davis-Boyd’s documentary filmmaking class at VTSU–Castleton, the announcement — part of a flawed plan to cut $5 million annually from the state college system’s budget — was something more: an opportunity to practice documentary filmmaking in real time. 

One day after Grewal’s announcement, students in Davis-Boyd’s Documentary Workshop class decided to forgo their previously scheduled projects. Instead, the students focused their attention on what it meant for a college to no longer offer physical books in its campus library. 

“That’s kind of the nature of documentary filmmaking,” said Davis-Boyd, an assistant professor of communications. “You think you’re going to do one thing, and then the story changes and unfolds.”

The film, titled “Error 404: Books Not Found,” premiered last week on the Castleton campus, with a second showing tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, May 8, at 5 p.m. at VTSU–Johnson. The 30-minute documentary chronicles the monthslong protests and community activism in spring 2023 that ultimately led to Grewal’s resignation in April 2023 and his cost-cutting measures being rescinded.

You can read more in an article by Ken Picard at: http://bit.ly/3JGvzLv