A Step Beyond Book Bans

I know I’ve written more than enough about book bans, but there’s a frightening new step happening in Florida that cannot be ignored. Last week New College of Florida, the tiny liberal arts college where Governor DeSantis appointed a new governing board, threw out books. “‘We abolished the gender studies program. Now we’re throwing out the trash,’ Christopher Rufo, a DeSantis appointee to the Sarasota college’s governing board, posted Friday on X, formerly Twitter.” (apnews.com)

Although the administration claimed that the books were put out to be donated since the college’s gender studies program has been eliminated, student Natalia Benavides and others said the boxes were moved to near the dumpsters to be discarded before they rescued them. “‘Primarily what was in the dumpster were library books —- they were stamped with `discard’ and they were bound so that you knew they were from the library,’ said Benavides, a fourth-year student. ‘They seemed to be of every topic under the sun: art history books, books on aesthetics, psychology books.’” The discards included LGBTQ books, books on slavery, a collection of Jewish stories and three copies of the Bible. (Ibid.)

A report in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune was more damning, claiming a dumpster in the library parking lot overflowed with books and collections, and a video captured in the afternoon showed a vehicle driving away with the books before students were notified. In the past, students were given an opportunity to purchase books that were leaving the college’s library collection. New College spokesperson Nathan March referenced Florida Statute 273 as the reason books could not be donated or sold. However, FS 273 states that New College could dispose of state-funded personal property by “selling or transferring property to any other governmental entity… private nonprofit agency… (and) through a sale open to the public.”(herald-tribune.com)

In an interview, Natalia Benavides, said, “Unfortunately they took the whole bin to the landfill in front of our eyes, and we couldn’t do anything about it”(youtube.com)

One of the discarded books was co-authored by U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Patty Murray (D-WA), Nine and Counting: the Women of the Senate. They issued this joint statement: “We were stunned to discover that the state of Florida chose to discard Nine and Counting from its collection of books at New College—this is a book we penned together with our Senate colleagues to tell our stories as women senators, at a time when there were far fewer of us, to help inspire the next generation of women to pursue public service. We stand against the senseless banning of books. Such actions go against our constitutional values and the idea that our universities should be places where the freedom of speech is allowed to flourish and perspectives of all kinds are heard.” (collins.senate.gov)

Have we come this much closer to Ray Bradbury’s nightmare vision in Fahrenheit 451? Authoritarian regimes may start with banning books but destroying them to remove them from circulation completely is yet another step. “In Nazi Germany, many books were considered so dangerous that they were publicly burnt. Liesl Meminger, the Book Thief of Marcus Zusak’s bestselling novel, steals a half-burned book from the edge of one of these bonfires.” (theguardian.com) Brazil, Hungary, the Phillipines, Turkey, and Russia have all removed books that challenge their values, often replacing independent history texts with those produced by the state. In 2019, Turkey’s education minister “revealed — proudly — that 301,878 books had been taken out of schools and libraries and destroyed. All these books were purportedly connected to Fethullah Gulen, the cleric blamed for the failed coup attempt against Erdogan’s government in 2016.” (nytimes.com)

My heart aches when I read these articles. Destruction and removal of books limits the perspectives learners can develop. Be they children or even college students, readers can learn about other worldviews from books. “Books from a variety of viewpoints can be incredible tools to help children learn, independently or in a classroom, and limiting these discussions only hinders the nuanced discussions that inspire growth. Banning Shakespeare and other classic literature based on a few excerpts doesn’t protect children, it limits their learning. Banning books about LGBTQ+ and racial-equity topics doesn’t stop children from being curious about different topics, it merely blocks an important medium through which they can learn.” (firstfocus.org) Shame on New College!