Most of the books were damaged or under-checked, but some violated Florida state law, the district said.
A list provided by Brevard College Public Schools to an anti-censorship group shows more than 103,000 books removed from the district’s shelves — along with confidential information about students.
The list of books taken off shelves includes titles that are often repeated, from current young adult books to classic children’s books, as well as outdated technology. It also includes the names and student numbers of students who most recently checked out books that were lost back in 2020. It was sent to the Florida Freedom to Read Project, a group that tracks book challenges and bans across the state, and lists books taken off shelves between July 2023 and June of this year.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) requires that student information be disclosed only in certain circumstances or to certain individuals, such as in the event of an audit of educational programs, under a court order, or in connection with a health or safety emergency.
What student information was included?
The student information on the list included the first and last names of students who had previously checked out lost books, as well as their identification numbers. This information is protected by FERPA.
“The information that was sent should not have contained sensitive information,” said Janet Murnaghan, a spokeswoman for Brevard Public Schools. “We will discuss this with the personnel responsible for the error. We will work to ensure that this does not happen again.”
Are the books banned?
The list contains the titles of 103,100 books and obsolete devices such as old iPads and is a “clean-out protocol” – most books are not banned from the district, but may have been removed from circulation due to lack of circulation, damage or similar reasons. Some titles appear on the list multiple times, with books such as “The Cat in the Hat” by Dr. Seuss, the Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park and “The Rainbow Fish” by Marcus Pfister being removed from circulation.
The most common reasons given for the removal of the books were “loss,” “minor borrowing,” and “damage,” but two stood out in particular: “HB 1069” and “decision of the school board.”
The first relates to House Bill 1069, which dictates what can and cannot be in school libraries and classrooms. The second relates to a decision made by the Brevard School Board. In the past, the board has almost always said it would not remove content without consulting the public or having the books reviewed by the county board of review first.
In total, 122 books were removed due to the school board and 169 books – and two DVDs – due to HB 1069.
Most of the books were “moved from an elementary school library to a neighboring middle school library,” Murnaghan said. She added that “decisions made within the school do not impact libraries across the district” and that many of the books removed at the request of the school board were part of an outdated curriculum.
Others — some removed by the board, others as a result of HB 1069 — had been previously reported and listed on the district’s media website, where the books under review are tracked, she said.
“They are not new,” Murnaghan said.
Books that are “discarded” may have been sent to another school or to a district warehouse, she said.
What titles were on the list?
The books removed due to HB 1069 or the school board included a wide variety of titles. Some of them have long been controversial, such as “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green, “The Hunger Games” trilogy by Suzanne Collins, and numerous titles by Sarah J. Maas. Some parents argue that the sexual content in Maas’ books is inappropriate even for high school students, while others say it is age-appropriate for the upper grades. In the past, the district has decided to remove seven of their titles due to HB 1069, while keeping one — “Empire of Storms” for 10th graders and up — in place.
Other titles, however, have not been criticized in the past by even the most conservative readers. These include “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou, “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott, “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, “Journey to the Center of the Earth” by Jules Verne, “Treasure Island” by Robert Louis Stevenson, “1984” by George Orwell and “Anne of Green Gables” by LM Montgomery.
Most of those titles were brought to a middle school for older readers, Murnaghan said.
How does the book review process work?
The process for reviewing books in Brevard has gone through numerous iterations. There is currently an informal and formal review process, as well as an internal review team.
An informal review is initiated when a citizen files a complaint about a specific title. That title is then reviewed by media specialists and school principals, and the decision whether or not to keep the book is made on a school-by-school basis.
If the person who filed the complaint is unhappy with the results of the informal review, he or she can file another complaint and have it reviewed by the five-member district review board, which is made up of people selected by the school board and chaired by a media specialist. The review board reads the book and makes a recommendation to the school board about whether it should be kept, restricted to a specific grade, or banned altogether. Ultimately, it is the school board’s decision what happens to the book.
Books can also be reviewed without complaint by an internal team of district experts. It’s not clear how large that team is or who exactly works on it. In the past, that team – after reviewing books with material they believe violates HB 1069 – has told all schools in the district, in several emails reviewed by FLORIDA TODAY, that they can no longer use certain titles.
Parents could also bypass the review process entirely by reading certain passages aloud at school board meetings, because HB 1069 states that if a speaker is prevented from reading pornographic material, the book must be removed from the district.
Changes in the district
After the book list was released, county officials began discussing possible changes in cataloging the removed books. A library media content specialist recommended they use more specific language.
“We will edit the reasons to allow you to more accurately indicate whether a title is being discarded based on the four reasons in HB 1069,” said Trish Ely, library media content specialist for grades K-12, in an email obtained by FLORIDA TODAY.
The reasons cited included pornographic content, sexual content, content that does not meet the needs or understanding of students, and content that is not appropriate for a particular grade level.
Finch Walker is an education reporter for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at [email protected]. X: @_Subscribe.
