ORLANDO, Fla. — Nearly double the number of books were removed from Florida schools last school year compared to the previous year, according to a new list released by the Florida Department of Education.
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The state says a total of 764 books were either removed or restricted because they were labeled as “inappropriate.”
One hundred of the books were removed from school districts in Central Florida.
Several of our counties reported more removed this past school year than in the 2022-2023 school year.
In Volusia County, the state reported 53 books were removed or restricted last year compared to 2 books the year before.
Volusia County said they removed those 53 books all because of sexual content.
Volusia County Schools topped the list of counties with the most books removed behind Indian River with 132 and Clay County with 287.
Supporters of the law said certain books should be removed because they’re not age appropriate, but those against say it’s a restriction to a child’s freedom to read.
“It’s certainly a lost opportunity for students who share those identities and may have, you know, similar experiences where they no longer have access to see themselves reflected in books,” said Kasey Meehan, Freedom to Read program director at Pen America.
Pen America has been tracking book bans across the country since 2021.
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She said the group is seeing the genres of literature removed from schools broadening.
It ranges from classics by American literary icons like Maya Angelou and Flannery O’Connor to contemporary books by authors like John Green.
“They target content that like LGBTQ+ books, books with characters of color, books that talk about sex and sexual experiences,” Meehan said.
Meehan said though it’s true more books are being removed from schools, the number the state provided, she says, is an undercount.
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Pen America reports that Florida saw more than 4,500 instances of book removal last school year.
“We include books that are banned while they undergo a review, knowing that those reviews can take, you know, a couple of days to couple of weeks to months to even, you know, a year in some instances,” Meehan said.
For instance, during the 2023-2024 school year, Orange County pulled nearly 700 books off the shelves temporarily for review.
The titles included works by Shakespeare and popular titles like “Catch-22 and “Charlotte’s Web.”
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According to the state’s list, only two books were marked as formal objections.
Stephana Ferrell, co-founder of Florida Freedom to Read Project and parent of two Orange County students, is calling for more transparency in the state’s reporting and said the state should include why each title was removed.
Ferrell said the law is broad and has caused confusion among teachers and media staff.
“If we’re talking about accountability and we’re talking about transparency, they should be completely forthcoming,” Ferrell said. “If they want to label all these books sexually explicit, then they need to be very specific because we have a lot of fear within our teachers and our in our media staff. They worry that they could be jailed or lose their livelihood over having one particular book and they’re told ere on the side of caution.”
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