Ministry of Education reports almost doubling in cases of book removals from libraries

Florida school boards have removed more than 700 books from school libraries during the 2023-2024 school year, according to the Florida Department of Education. (Photo: Getty Images)

During the 2023-2024 school year, Florida schools removed nearly twice as many books as the previous year due to challenges from parents and community members.

Schools removed more than 700 titles 2023-2024 academic yearover about 400 people were removed a year ago.

Twenty-three regions contributed to the list; Clay, Indian River and Volusia counties formed important divisions.

The removals stem from state laws that require school boards to adopt protocols for screening books deemed pornographic or sexually explicit.

The removal of the books in Florida has been the subject of lawsuits alleging censorship and restricting freedom of expression.

““There are no banned books in Florida and sexually explicit materials do not belong in schools,” Florida Department of Education Communications Director Sydney Booker said in an email to Phoenix. He added that of the more than 700 books on the list, some of the same books were counted in more than one region.

In the eyes of legislators, the number of book editions may be too high.

A law passed earlier this year after the reporting period on the above data could reduce the number of challenges in future years. HB 1285 limits non-parents living in a school district to one book challenge per month.

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PEN America report

Less than two weeks ago, PEN America announced its tally Number of books removed from Florida school libraries in the 2023-2024 school year.

Schools have removed nearly 4,500 books from Florida libraries, according to PEN America’s count. However, the methodology between the organization defending freedom of expression and the state differs.

PEN’s list also includes books temporarily removed pending the school board’s final decision and administrative suspensions, another method of removing books from shelves.

The state’s count only includes books removed by school boards and does not include books removed due to objections.

Florida removed more books than any other state in the previous school year, according to PEN’s tally.

A lawsuit filed by major book publishers and several authors of the removed books argue that state definitions of “pornographic” and “depicts sexual content” are unconstitutional and lead to censorship.

The publishers argue that “ambiguity and ambiguity lead to overly broad interpretations of (the law’s) content ban, which defines sexual conduct and cold-protected speech.”

The Florida Department of Education stands behind restrictions on school libraries.

“Once again, far-left activists are pushing the book ban scam on Floridians,” Booker said. “The better question is why these activists continue to fight to expose children to sexually explicit material.”

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