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A diverse coalition that includes literary organizations, groups advocating against censorship, and educators in Florida has officially voiced its opposition to House Bill 1539. This legislation is seen as a significant threat to students’ ability to access books in public schools across the state.
Under the proposed bill, school districts would be mandated to remove any book labeled as “harmful to minors” within a mere five days of a challenge, circumventing traditional review mechanisms.
In their open letter to Florida lawmakers, the coalition articulated that “This is not just a policy concern—it’s a constitutional one.” They expressed that “This bill short-circuits review processes and replaces them with censorship fueled by fear, not fact,” emphasizing their worries about the implications of such legislation.
The letter has garnered signatures from a range of respected entities, including American Booksellers for Free Expression, Authors Against Book Bans, the Authors Guild, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, EveryLibrary, the Florida Freedom to Read Project, PEN America, and We Need Diverse Books.
Critics of the bill point out that its new definition of “harmful to minors” discards the consideration of a book’s literary, artistic, political, or scientific merit solely based on the presence of sexual content. This represents a deviation from established constitutional principles that govern such assessments.
Should the bill become law, it could jeopardize access to well-known and widely-studied literary works, including Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, both of which have previously faced scrutiny in other districts within the state.
The coalition referenced the Supreme Court case Board of Education v. Pico, which upholds students’ rights to access information within educational contexts. They also highlighted potential financial burdens that HB 1539 might impose, labeling it as an unfunded mandate. Although the legislation allocates $3 million towards a “transparency tool” for compliance with the Florida Department of Education, it does not offer financial provisions for sustaining classroom libraries.
According to the coalition’s letter, “HB 1539 empowers the State Board of Education to audit school districts and penalize them for noncompliance, including withholding state funding.” This aspect of the bill is likely to create a climate of fear that may lead districts to preemptively remove challenged materials, even those that do not fulfill the new harmfulness criteria, in an effort to avoid punitive measures.
The coalition also contends that the response outlined in the bill is disproportionate to actual parental concerns regarding book content. Their research indicates that fewer than 100 parents have formally objected to materials since the school year of 2021-22, and that fewer than 5% of students currently face parental restrictions on their access to library resources.
In closing, the letter urges lawmakers to reconsider their stance: “Florida’s students deserve better. They deserve access to books that challenge them, inspire them, and help them understand the world. They deserve policies grounded in law, not fear.”
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www.publishersweekly.com