The Vietnam War

The application period is now closed.

In partnership with the WETA Productions in Washington, D.C., the American Library Association (ALA) has developed a programming kit for The Vietnam War, a film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, for public libraries. This kit includes a programming guide and a copy of the full 18-hour documentary series on DVD, with public performance rights. This kit will help public libraries participate in a national conversation about one of the most consequential, divisive and controversial events in American history.

Fifty U.S. public libraries will be selected through a competitive application process. The opportunity is open to all public libraries in the United States and U.S. territories. View the full project guidelines or begin your online application using the links below.

In this immersive ten-part narrative, Ken Burns and Lynn Novick tell the epic story of the Vietnam War as it has never before been told on film. Visceral and immersive, the series explores the human dimensions of the war through revelatory testimony of nearly 80 witnesses from all sides — Americans who fought in the war and others who opposed it, as well as combatants and civilians from North and South Vietnam.

Ten years in the making, The Vietnam War includes rarely seen, digitally re-mastered archival footage from sources around the globe, photographs taken by some of the most celebrated photojournalists of the 20th century, historic television broadcasts, evocative home movies and secret audio recordings from inside the Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon administrations. The Vietnam War features more than 100 iconic musical recordings from the greatest artists of the era and haunting original music from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, as well as the Silk Road Ensemble featuring Yo-Yo Ma.

Funding credits: Bank of America; Corporation for Public Broadcasting; PBS; David H. Koch; The Blavatnik Family Foundation; Park Foundation; The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations; The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; National Endowment for the Humanities; The Pew Charitable Trusts; Ford Foundation Just Films; Rockefeller Brothers Fund; and Members of The Better Angels Society: Jonathan & Jeannie Lavine, Diane & Hal Brierley, Amy & David Abrams, John & Catherine Debs, Fullerton Family Charitable Fund, The Montrone Family, Lynda & Stewart Resnick, The Golkin Family Foundation, The Lynch Foundation, The Roger & Rosemary Enrico Foundation, Richard S. & Donna L. Strong Foundation, Bonnie & Tom McCloskey, Barbara K. & Cyrus B. Sweet III, The Lavender Butterfly Fund.