GAINESVILLE, Fla. — In May 2023, Florida passed an education bill that changed the way schools can teach. It expanded restrictions on school library books and classroom instruction, specifically targeting LGBTQ+ topics and sexual content. Now, a new bill, HB 1119, has passed the Florida House and was received by the Senate, further limiting book content in schools.
The bill focuses primarily on books with sexual content. If a parent or community member objects to a book for sexual content, school boards would no longer be allowed to consider the literary, artistic or scientific value of the material when deciding whether it should remain on shelves. It also expands the definition of “harmful to minors” to include depictions of nudity, sexual conduct or sexual excitement that are considered “patently offensive to prevailing standards.”
Supporters of the bill say it strengthens parental rights and ensures children are not exposed to inappropriate material. Critics argue the language is broad and could lead to the removal of a wide range of books, including works often taught in high school literature classes.
Alachua County Public Schools district media specialist Patty Duval said she is worried about how the bill could impact students if it becomes law.
“We're concerned that if it passes, it will impact our students in a negative way, because it will prevent them from having access to quality literature,” Duval said.
Duval said media specialists across the state are monitoring the bill closely. She referenced the Florida Association of Media Educators, known as FAME, whose lobbyists have indicated the bill may not advance in the Senate.
“Our lobbyists tell us that they don't think that it's going to pass in the Senate this year,” Duval said. “So we haven't been too alarmed about it yet.”
Still, she said the possibility remains concerning.
“If they do, we are in a world of trouble and we will be eliminating a lot of titles from our school libraries and from our classrooms,” she said. “It will really be a blow to our students and to their ability to access materials.”
Duval said Alachua County has received about 37 objections to books, all in 2023 and 2024, and all filed by one person. She contrasted that with other districts across the state.
“Bay County, for example, just got 132 objections last week,” she said.
She said the volume of objections in some counties has created a heavy workload for school staff, who must review each challenged book individually. Under current policy, review committees consider multiple factors when evaluating a book, including its overall value and intended age group. HB 1119 would remove the ability to weigh literary, artistic or scientific merit when sexual content is cited as the reason for objection.
Duval said the most alarming part of the bill is the potential loss of books that help students see themselves reflected in literature.
“We want to work towards our collections having books that all students can see themselves in,” Duval said.
She pointed to books that address topics such as sexual assault.
“We know we have students out there that have experienced this kind of trauma. Seeing themselves in a book, or reading about the fact that this is not right, allows them to address the situation in a different capacity,” she said.
Without access to those materials, she said, some students may lose one of the only resources available to them. Duval added that Alachua County has largely seen community support for school libraries.
“Up until this point, it's been very evident that our community supports our libraries and does not support banning library books,” she said. “I think that we're very fortunate.”
Moderator of a Banned Books Club Allyse Hetrik, who said she believes removing books entirely limits access for students who may not have other ways to read them outside of school.
“We're removing access for a large group of children,” Hetrik said. “When you make a choice to remove books from the school, you may very well likely be removing the only opportunity for that person to read that book.”
Hetrik said she supports providing age-appropriate materials but opposes broad bans that apply to all students regardless of individual family preferences.
“Wanting children to have access to age-appropriate, developmentally appropriate material is completely understandable” she said.
She said she understands and respects parental choice but believes it should not extend to restricting access for every student.
“I certainly understand parental choice and if parents decide that they don't want their child to read certain things, I think that is a choice for parents,” Hetrik said. “Just because a parent chooses not to allow their child to read something does not mean that we should entirely remove access to books.”
“When we ban it, we're making that decision for every child,” she added.
Hetrik also emphasized that books selected for school libraries and curriculum are chosen through established review processes.
“The materials that were selected we chose because they had educational merit and educational value,” she said.
As HB 1119 moves to the Senate, school districts, educators and parents across Florida are watching closely to see whether the bill will advance and how it could reshape access to books in public schools. For Duval and others who work in school libraries, the concern is less about a single title and more about what they see as a broader shift in how educational materials are evaluated.
If passed, they say, the bill could significantly change what students are able to find on their school library shelves and who ultimately decides which stories are allowed to remain. Hetrik said she believes teenagers reading should be encouraged.
“The last thing I'm concerned about is teenagers reading,” she said.