The Public

Synopsis

An unusually bitter Arctic blast makes its way to downtown Cincinnati and the front doors of the public library. Many of the library patrons are homeless, mentally ill and marginalized, and the exhausted and overwhelmed staff of librarians often act as "de-facto social workers" and care for those regular patrons.

At odds with library officials over how to handle the extreme weather event, the patrons turn the building into a homeless shelter for the night by staging an "Occupy" sit in. What begins as an act of civil disobedience becomes a stand-off with police and a rush-to-judgment media constantly speculating about what's really happening inside the building.