Banned Books

On "The Florida Roundup," we dive into the debate regarding school book removals across the Sunshine State.

Iris Mogul, who is currently a freshman at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has been named Youth Honorary Chair for the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week 2025, which began Sunday and runs through Saturday.

The state had more than 2,300 titles taken off shelves last school year, according to data released by PEN America, an organization fighting against the law enabling book challenges.

When a junior at an Orange County public high school in Florida visited the school library to check out a copy of “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac, it wasn’t in its Dewey decimal system-assigned location. It turns out the title had been removed from the library’s shelves because of a complaint, and in compliance with Florida House Bill 1069, it had been removed from the library indefinitely.

A federal judge has ruled that a key part of a 2023 Florida law that led to books being removed from school libraries is "overbroad and unconstitutional."

The state’s motion, in part, said the “selection of public-school library books is government speech and therefore not subject to the First Amendment.”

FIU artist and professor Dimitry Saïd Chamy explores book bans, media consumption and literature in The Unreading Room — along with his own love of reading and history.

Florida continues to lead the country in pulling books from school libraries, according to the American Library Association and the advocacy group PEN America.

For the second year in a row, Florida removed more books from school libraries than any other state, according to PEN America.

Book bans are increasing in classrooms and libraries across the country. This week, there's an effort to raise awareness about nationwide book restrictions. It's called Banned Books Week and goes through Sept. 28. WLRN’s Ammy Sanchez spoke with Katie Blankenship, inaugural director of PEN America’s Florida office.

Two new reports provide a mixed but compelling outlook on the wave of book removals and challenges as the annual Banned Books Week begins for schools, stores and libraries nationwide.

The agreement reached Thursday settles a lawsuit that argued that the district unlawfully decided to limit access to dozens of titles containing LGBTQ+ content.