| Happy 2023! Starting Jan. 1, school media specialists across Florida faced a new requirement of needing to complete training on how to select books for their libraries before purchasing any new items. The state did not meet its deadline to provide the training. It did, however, publish a proposed rule and backing documents for public review and comment, leading to a future Board of Education vote. As you might imagine, the proposal has encountered some resistance.
— Jeffrey S. Solochek, jsolochek@tampabay.com
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| [ANGELICA EDWARDS | Times] |
| Focus on pornography, other prohibitions high on Florida's list of book selection priorities |
| The committee empaneled to fashion the state's training for school media specialists and librarians faced plenty of criticism even before its recommendations arrived. A key worry: Who would control the direction of the required work?
The published materials suggest the advocates for more limitations held the upper hand. They include multiple references to keeping pornography — a term undefined in law — and other topics "harmful to minors" out of the schools, with suggestions such as "err on the side of caution."
"If you would not be comfortable reading the material in a public setting, then you should lean toward not making the material available in a public school library for children," a narrator states on an hourlong video that describes the proposal. References to the goal of preventing "indoctrination" — a provision from separate legislation related to instructional rather than library materials — also have been added to the presentation, after not having been part of the initial conversations. Groups fighting efforts to remove books from schools contend the state is blurring the line between laws, attempting to add language regarding race and gender instruction into the library collection process. Further complicating matters, the recommendation extends the definition of library to include elementary classrooms, stating certified media specialists must select all books for them, too. The training proposal also notes that, while the law requires media specialists to consult with peers and other experts, "districts should consider the consultation of crowd-sourced reviews." It further advises districts to carefully consider whether to purchase books that have been restricted or removed in other parts of the state.
Stephana Ferrell, a co-founder of the Florida Freedom to Read Project, contended that the proposed training "is promoting censorship." "Having a government representative deny someone access to a book to read quietly to themselves because a government representative would feel uncomfortable reading it aloud to a general audience of all ages is censorship," she said, advocating for changes in the proposed rule and attached training. Moms for Liberty Indian River County chapter chairperson Jennifer Pippin, who served on the state's library advisory panel, called the recommendation "95% amazing." "We got the definition of pornography in the training, which I feel was huge," Pippin said, adding that the materials will remain a work in progress even after the State Board votes.
Rule 6A-7.0715 is open for public input through Jan. 13. Then the board will take public comment at its Jan. 18 meeting. Like or hate the proposal, it's your chance to make your views known. |
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