JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Two years after a spate of book bans in the United States, Florida is a hot spot in the battle over what reading material is appropriate for children, with laws that have vastly expanded the state’s ability to restrict books.
Historically, books were challenged one by one. As school and library bans began to ramp up nationwide in 2021, efforts were largely local, led by a parent or a group. But in the past year, access to books, especially those about race, gender or sexual orientation, has become increasingly politicised. With it came an increase in laws and regulations in some states and school districts that affected the books libraries could offer.
The shift is particularly evident in Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican-controlled legislature and a burgeoning network of conservative groups joined to pass three state laws last year that targeted, at least in part, the reading or educational material. Among the books withdrawn from circulation in one of the state’s school districts are Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” and Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
The policy has boosted Mr. DeSantis’ supporters and is part of the platform from which he is expected to run for president.
Proponents of the restrictions say their goal is to protect students from inappropriate material and give parents more control over their children’s education. By focusing on “parents’ rights,” Mr. DeSantis is seeking to build on the popularity he garnered from resisting Covid-19 restrictions, especially in schools. The push is a signature part of the conservatism he exhibits in Florida. For example, his law on parental rights in education restricts instruction on gender and sexuality, leading some districts to remove books featuring LGBTQ characters.
Some teachers and librarians say the policy is vague, with imprecise language and broad requirements, leading to some confusion. But they try to comply. Violation of the law can be a third-degree felony; generally, such crimes are punishable by up to five years in prison
In January, when the new guidelines went into effect, some teachers removed or covered up books that had not been vetted by certified media specialists, whose approval is now required by law. Others do not order titles that could cause complaints. Some educators emptied shelves or pulled out collections until the titles could be reviewed.
“It’s a whole new level of anxiety,” said Kathleen Daniels, the president of the Florida Association for Media in Education, a professional organization for school librarians and media educators. “There are books that don’t get selected because they’ve been challenged.”
Florida ranks second, behind Texas, as the state with the highest number of book removals, according to a report released Thursday by the free speech organization PEN America, which tracked the ban on books in schools from July 1 to December 31, 2022 But PEN said Florida’s broad approach at the state level, with “wholesale bans” restricting access to “untold numbers of books in classrooms and school libraries,” made it difficult to quantify the true extent of book removals in the state.
Many of the new restrictions stem from a law passed last year requiring trained media specialists to evaluate each textbook to ensure it is age-appropriate and free of “pornographic” content. The law also requires schools to maintain a searchable online database of the books in their libraries and classrooms.
The proposed legislation goes further. In March, the Florida House passed a bill that could require schools to immediately remove a book based on a single complaint from a parent or county resident that the book depicts sexual conduct. Under the proposed bill, the book would remain unavailable until the complaint was resolved.
Two other laws contribute to the book ban in Florida schools. The Stop WOKE Act prohibits instruction that may make students feel guilty or responsible for the past actions of other members of their race. The Parental Rights in Education Act prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in some elementary schools; a state rule is expected to extend restrictions through 12th grade.
Attempts by Florida’s 67 public school districts to put the new rules into practice have been uneven and often chaotic. Some districts have not taken major measures. Others performed blanket moves that essentially destroyed libraries.
Earlier this year, shortly after the new library guidelines were issued in January, some districts moved quickly to comply. In Duval County, home to Jacksonville, the public school district restricted access to more than a million titles, keeping them out of students’ hands until vetted by specialists. In Manatee County, on Florida’s Gulf Coast, some teachers boxed their classroom libraries or covered their shelves. Officials in Martin County, on the state’s Atlantic coast, pulled about 150 books from school circulation in January and February, including John Green’s “Looking for Alaska” and James Patterson’s “Maximum Ride,” a series of sci-fi adventure books for readers of all ages. ages. 10 and above, which were taken from primary schools.
Mr. Patterson, who lives in Palm Beach, Florida, called the removal of his books “frightening.”
“If you can get a mainstream series like ‘Maximum Ride’ off the shelves,” he said, “it shows that no one is safe.” A provincial spreadsheet gave no specific reason for the series’ removal.
Training materials advised media specialists to think about how they would feel about reading passages from the book in question. “If you would not like to read the materials in a public setting,” said a slideshow from the state’s Department of Education, “then you should choose not to make the materials available in a children’s school library.”
Jennifer Pippin heads a local chapter of the Moms for Liberty group in Florida and was on the Department of Education panel that helped design the training materials. She said books removed from school libraries in the state should not be considered “banned” because they remained available in public libraries and bookstores.
Young people in a school library might just pick up a book with an explicit rape scene, she said, because they enjoyed other installments in the same series. Or a child interested in penguins might open a book about a penguin family with two fathers. But “it may not be right for them by their parents’ standards,” she said. “Without instruction or parental guidance, some of these things can indeed be harmful.”
In Duval County, the school district asked the district’s 54 media specialists in January to begin reviewing its more than 1.6 million titles. Unapproved books, elementary school teachers were told, were to be covered or set aside.
At the beginning of this month, about 25,000 books had gone through the review process. Due to the ongoing process, Duval County’s more than 129,000 students have access to only a small fraction of available titles, critics say.
“Our books are being shadowed,” said Nina Perez, a Jacksonville resident and executive director of MomsRising, an advocacy group opposed to the restrictions. “They get caught up in an administrative process.”
Tracy Pierce, a spokeswoman for the Duval school district, said in an email last month that the actions followed guidelines from the state’s Department of Education. Classrooms should never have run out of reading materials, she said, as students still had access to approved books and collections. She acknowledged that “a small number of patrons have momentarily closed or overly restricted media centers” and was advised to restore access.
Mr. DeSantis has responded aggressively to criticism that public schools are banning books. He dismissed news reports that Duval County schools had removed a title about baseball player Roberto Clemente as “a joke”, and accused critics of “fabricating” a story about book bans.
The book, which addresses the racism Mr Clemente faced, was removed and reinstated after a review in February. Last month, the state education commissioner named Jonah Winter’s “Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates” a book of the month for third through fifth graders.
At a press conference last month, Mr. DeSantis behind a sign that read “Revealing the Book Ban HOAX” and said the state was trying to protect children from pornographic material. The event began with a presentation on books reported to districts for removal — including Maia Kobabe’s “Gender Queer” and Mike Curato’s “Flamer” — and highlighted scenes of sexual contact and masturbation.
“This idea of a book ban in Florida, that they somehow don’t want books in the library — that’s cheating,” Mr. DeSantis said. “And that’s a really dirty hoax, because it’s a hoax in the service of polluting and sexualizing our children.”
Critics in the state push back. In March, Democracy Forward, an advocacy organization, filed a lawsuit with the state on behalf of the Florida Education Association and other groups challenging the rules, arguing that they censor educators, limit student access to books and harm public education. The Florida Freedom to Read Project organized a rally in Tallahassee last month with authors and freedom of speech activists to protest censorship.
After Brian Covey, a substitute teacher in Jacksonville posted a video in January of empty library shelves at a Duval County high school, a reporter asked Mr. DeSantis about it. The governor called the video a “fake story.” Mr. Covey, who lost his job soon after, said he was concerned that Mr. DeSantis and the school district were trying to delegitimize what he had documented.
The fact that they called it a false story, Mr. Covey said, “tells me they’re not about to say, ‘We made a mistake’.”