Banning books from public school libraries has nearly zero effect on what students are exposed to. Did you ever check out a book from the school library? I never did, the actual municipal library had a much better selection. Harry Potter was banned from plenty of libraries for witchcraft, and it's sales demonstrate how futile it was.

I read dozens (possibly hundreds?) of books in my school library as a student. We're not just talking about "the library" either. We're talking about the books that are made available to students during classroom free time in elementary school.

> Did you ever check out a book from the school library? I never did ...

That's fascinating to me. I checked out books all the time. In fact, we were required to check out books for various assignments. We also had a program called AR (accelerated reading) where you would be able to take a quiz on a library book and gather points which let you get various prizes, up to principal for the day.

> Did you ever check out a book from the school library?

Constantly. It was the only library I could get to regularly and I had a voracious appetite for reading.

> Did you ever check out a book from the school library?

Uh, yeah. All the time actually.

I probably checked out dozens. But the problem also extends to classrooms themselves where teachers have thrown out entire shelves of books.

He banned books? They are illegal to possess in the state? Or did he just have certain books removed from the curriculum or deemed inappropriate to teach in school? One is a serious accusation, the other is something that's done every day. You see a lot of copies of Mein Kampf in elementary school libraries? How about playboy magazines? Schools are always reevaluating what they deem appropriate, let's not blow it out of proportion and use wildly inappropriate and inflammatory words to describe it.

Try "no books at all" in high school libraries.[0]

And we're not talking about Mein Kampf or playboy, we're talking about To Kill a Mockingbird and Huckleberry Finn.

[0] https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-the-south/why-som...

"no books at all" is a result of them voluntarily making things worse to try to win political points. That's not what any law required.

(same person, different account, HN is trying to throttle me)

No, "no books at all" is a result of them trying not to go to prison. The law is very unclear about what it requires.

You can read the law in question here[1]. Parents must have a venue to object to instructional content, and porn in school libraries is already illegal under a prior law about giving porn to minors. What is unclear about this?

[1] https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2022/1467/BillText/er/...

(still same person, let's keep it rolling)

The consequences of a felony charge make it so that clarity needs to be crystal, and as so many articles have already discussed, what's unclear is what books could result in that felony charge.

You can read the Florida statute here[1]. It is crystal clear. Whichever journalists wrote those articles choose to not actually read the law, for some reason.

[1] https://m.flsenate.gov/Statutes/847.012

Classic DeSantis bait-and-switch, the actual text says:

> b. Any material used in a classroom, made available in a school library, or included on a reading list contains content that is pornographic or prohibited under s. 847.012, is not suited to student needs and their ability to comprehend the material presented, or is inappropriate for the grade level and age group for which the material is used.

The first clause is very clear and gives cover to say "its just about pornography, whats the problem???" and the second and third clauses are astoundingly vague and provide ample confusion to effectively ban whatever books a single parent doesn't like until a review panel issues a decision. Even if the decisions can be made promptly, the law is so vague it provides cover for political operatives to make whatever decision they want.

fwiw I agree that there has been a very confusing conflation in the media about what violations consitute a felony.

Okay, but that's a different argument than "these teachers will go to jail now", which is what some people are pretending is happening but isn't. Is your argument now that parents should not have a forum to influence what is taught in the classroom? Or is your issue that they'll make decisions you don't agree with?

My issue is that almost all of the "anti-woke" laws signed by DeSantis are astoundingly vague and make it extremely easy to submit objections but costly to combat objections, leading to a regime of defacto bans on controversial material or lessons regardless of their educational or developmental value. HB 1557 with its 'vigilante' style enforcement is a great example of this.

I believe children have rights and autonomy and at appropriate ages should have access to information their parents may find objectionable. There should of course be limits and parents should have input, but the law as written is not attempting to find any reasonable balance in my opinion.

This is a bizarre article. It's a chronology of what appear to be neurotic teachers grossly overreacting to a law that says schools boards must provide a means for parents to object to content in instructional material that may (or may not) be pornographic in nature, or otherwise inappropriate. This is not "no books at all" in high school libraries.

>The bill itself does not outline penalties for educators, but school officials have nonetheless suggested that felony charges are possible under a preëxisting law prohibiting the distribution of pornography to minors.

Why would these school officials do this, intentionally scare their teachers? I can venture a guess... It's not in the law, which NY Mag actually links to this time, and what law is referenced with regard to pornography is an old one, where yes if you give porn to minors you can be charged with a felony.[1]

[1] https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2022/1467/BillText/er/...

This was obviously a political stunt.

>He banned books? They are illegal to possess in the state?

Come on man, you know what "banned books" are. They are books that libraries are not allowed to carry/lend and schools cannot assign/carry/lend. It could be the result of local/state/federal law, or a school administration's decision, or a PTA, whatever. Why are you pretending you don't know this?

DeSantis has banned books at the state level with the GOP legislature in Florida. That is what we are talking about.

You can get the books at any store or library. Removing graphic depictions and descriptions of gay sex from elementary school libraries is not controversial.