The Truth behind the Great Florida Classroom Library Freak-Out

What do you get when you take a new law aimed at increasing transparency around public-school materials, add in some misplaced concerns about an existing law that prohibits providing pornography to kids, sprinkle in conflicting directions from local school leaders that provided teachers with no room to use discretion or common sense, and mix them together in a state where the governor — a likely 2024 Republican presidential candidate — is often characterized by the media and his political opponents as akin to a fascist dictator?

The answer: the great Florida classroom library freak-out of 2023.

Several stories popped up in the local, national, and international media last week about teachers in at least two Florida school districts removing their classroom libraries — or completely covering them with construction paper — under the largely unfounded belief that they could be sent to jail for having unvetted books on their shelves.