NCAC contacts Hernando School District in Brooksville, Florida, to express its concerns about the removal of 13 books by Ellen Hopkins from its libraries.
A district administrator claimed that the materials are “harmful to minors” under Florida Statute 847, which makes it illegal to provide minors with access to “obscene” materials. This is problematic because, under Florida law, a book cannot be “obscene” unless “taken as a whole, [it] lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.” A book cannot be “harmful to minors” unless it lacks those criteria. (FS 847.001).
Traditionally, the district makes decisions about the education value by group consensus. When one person makes a decision about the educational merit of a book, it leaves the district open to suspicion that that person has acted for illegal reasons.
NCAC has shared resources to help Hernando School District officials address the problem of book challenges, Material Review, and Policy Guidelines and best practices.
Please read our full letter to Hernando School District here. Click here for a full screen view: