Florida

South Florida school districts among those with fewest book removals

While there were objections, no books were removed Miami-Dade County. Monroe and Palm Beach also had zero books removed

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The state of Florida has released the list of books each school district removed from its shelves last year and South Florida is among the areas with the least book removals.

While there were objections, no books were removed Miami-Dade County. Monroe and Palm Beach also had zero books removed.

However, according to the Florida Dept. of Education’s book removal list, Broward County had three book removals.

It's a move that Broward County’s Libraries Director Allison Grubbs spoke out against.

“I felt sadness at seeing the list, it’s a tangible list of censorship efforts that have been successful throughout the state often by a very small group of individuals who are leading the charge,” said Grubbs.

On the list of removed books is “A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo” which is a spin on a children’s book written by former Vice President Mike Pence’s wife and daughter.

“Our story is about Marlon Bundo falling in love with another boy rabbit because our Marlon Bundo is gay,” said John Oliver, host of "Last Week Tonight."

The other removed titles in Broward County are "It’s perfectly normal: changing bodies, growing up, sex and sexual health" and "Let’s talk about it: the teen’s guide to sex, relationships, and being a human."

“We have not banned any books at our public library and if children or parents or any member of the community wants to access those three titles they can at the public library,” said Grubbs.

Of Florida’s 67 counties, 21 of them removed books last year with Clay County in northeast Florida having the most removals with 177, followed by Martin County in the southeast with 98 removals. Overall, roughly 300 books were removed from Florida’s public-school libraries.

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