Since we’re little, we’ve been taught to respect books, being careful not to tear pages, leave sticky fingerprints, or even break the binding. So it goes against everything we know to learn that the New School of Florida has tossed hundreds of books in a dumpster, sparking anger among students and protestors alike.
A New College student made a report to the Social Equity Through Education Alliance (SEE) claiming that they had allegedly seen thousands of books trashed in a dumpster. SEE is a local activist group. The dumpster was located behind the college’s library.
“We basically tried to communicate to officials that there were educational nonprofits and shelters that were immediately willing to bring trucks and save all of the books … and officials refused,” Zander Moricz, executive director at SEE, according to reports, told ABC News.
The books that were found in the dumpster included stories that were of Black and Latin authors, as well as female stories. Additional Bibles, LBTQ+, trans, and queer stories were also thrown into the dumpster.
Says Moricz continued: “It sends the message that New College of Florida wants to send stories of gender and diversity to the dump, and it was so heartbreaking and also very frustrating.”
Amidst the outrage, the New School of Florida issued a statement defending its actions:
“The images seen online of a dumpster of library materials is related to the standard weeding process,” the statement read. “Chapter 273 of Florida statutes precludes New College from selling, donating or transferring these materials, which were purchased with state funds. Deselected materials are discarded through a recycling process when possible.” And since a portion of the books were donated to the program, the public liberal arts school claimed that it was within its legal rights to throw out the materials.
Many of the books that found their way into the dumpster were used as a part of the now-defunct Gender Studies program. Governor Ron DeSantis hasn’t shied away from expressing his goal of changing the liberal arts school into a more conservative one. In fact, DeSantis appointed six new members to the New College’s Board of Trustees. “The New College Board of Trustees is succeeding in its mission to eliminate indoctrination and re-focus higher education on its classical mission,” he said in a 2023 statement.
Officials have also empowered parents to make critical choices in the genres of books their children (both in K-12 and higher education) read in school. The Parental Rights in Education Bill and the Stop Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (WOKE) Act empower parents to voice complaints and restrict (or eliminate) school books that focus on LGBTQ+, gender stories, as well as race content, too.
As for the books that were thrown out, activists and others are lamenting the loss. “These were readable books,” Moricz said. “These were books that did not have tears in the pages. Have clean covers. These are books that could have been used, and it’s truly unforgivable.”
The situation is particularly concerning, since DeSantis signed the House Bill 1285 in April 2024,, which essentially limits the number of objections that can be made regarding school books. Parents who have children in school districts or are using school materials can voice their objections, but parents who don’t have a child using said books will be limited in their complaints.
According to the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF), book ban objections have surged 65% in 2023. OIF states that 4,240 books could possibly be censored, and 1,247 demands were registered to censor library books, materials, and resources in 2023.