Judd Legum: Florida's literary inquisition

[Nevilledog]

https://popular.info/p/florida-officials-threaten-librarians



In a chilling meeting of the Florida State Board of Education last week, a school district superintendent was publicly browbeaten and repeatedly threatened with criminal prosecution. The members of the State Board were incensed that Van Ayres, the Superintendent of Hillsborough County Public Schools, had not unilaterally and permanently removed a list of 55 books from school libraries.

While Florida Republicans have defended removing books from public school libraries in the name of "parents' rights," no Hillsborough County parent had objected to the books at issue. Rather, the State Board had summarily declared that the 55 books were "pornography," even though none of the books met the legal definition of pornographic material.

Many of the books targeted by the State Board are award-winning literature that have been read by students for years — including two finalists for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, Patricia McCormick's Sold and Elana K. Arnold's What Girls Are Made Of. Also included was Forever, a seminal young adult novel by Judy Blume, winner of the American Library Association's Margaret A. Edwards Award, which honors the best young adult authors.

These books include sexual content and other mature themes. But they are not smut or pornography. They are works of literature that have long been recognized as valuable material for many high school students. The Florida Freedom to Read Project obtained the full list of books that the State Board wants immediately banned from public schools.

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