In Florida, the right to read is under a frightening new threat.
Over the past month, the Florida Department of Education and the Attorney General’s newly formed Office of Parental Rights have launched a campaign to pressure the Hillsborough County school district into banning books. From all appearances, their campaign is succeeding.
In May, Attorney General James Uthmeier and Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. sent threatening letters to the district, calling a list of titles “pornographic” and stating that they needed to be removed. The Attorney General warned that failing to comply could lead to formal legal action. The threat was clear: Comply or face consequences.
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In response, Hillsborough Superintendent Van Ayres permanently removed the six titles named in the letters from library shelves. Additionally, he ordered 600 other titles to be pulled and placed under review. This process, expected to cost the district $350,000, was based not on local complaints but on titles removed in any Florida district during the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years. On June 4th, 2025, Hillsborough Superintendent Van Ayres was summoned before the State Board of Education and subjected to an intense public interrogation about the availability of certain books in the district’s school libraries. In a scene reminiscent of McCarthy-era hearings, board members took turns criticizing Ayres and attacking the district’s media specialists, with some suggesting they be fired or face felony charges for making specific titles available to students.
“Have you considered firing all your media specialists and starting from scratch with women and men who can read, or have a single shred of decency? These people that you trust to review these materials are abusing the children of your county. They’re child abusers,” board member Grazie Christie said.
This blatant intimidation led the Superintendent to make a series of stunning concessions.
Several board members dismissed Van Ayres’ references to the district’s book review process and demanded he immediately remove more than 50 titles. He agreed to do so, effectively bypassing the district’s established policies for committee review and parental input.
None of these books were currently under review or removed because of a formal objection from a local parent. Before this state-driven intervention, the district had been following its prescribed process, consistent with state law. It used committees of educators, parents, and community members to assess challenged books. None were deemed wholly inappropriate. The district also offered concerned parents the option to restrict access for their children without removing books for everyone.
Now, hundreds of books have been permanently removed or suspended pending review. These include Forever… by Judy Blume, Sold by Patricia McCormick, Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation, adapted by Ari Folman and David Polonsky, and What Girls Are Made Of by Elana K. Arnold. Another, A Stolen Life by Jaycee Lee Dugard, a memoir of survival after her abduction, was targeted for removal by a board member who claimed, without evidence of having read it, that it served no educational purpose.
What is unfolding in Hillsborough County is not the measured application of parental concern. It is a calculated effort to consolidate power through fear, to bypass legal precedent, and to silence diverse voices in Florida’s public schools. Educators and parents view this campaign as a state-directed form of censorship intended to intimidate professionals into abandoning their expertise. Books are being targeted and removed without meaningful review, and without regard for the input of local families or communities.
Hillsborough County is being turned into a cautionary tale. The message to other districts is clear: fall in line or face the consequences. This is not policymaking in the interest of children. It is a form of political theater that comes at the expense of students’ access to information and ideas.
PEN America and the Florida Freedom to Read Project strongly condemn this overreach. We stand with Hillsborough’s educators, librarians, students, and parents who believe in the importance of intellectual freedom. We affirm the importance of due process, literary context, and constitutional protections. We call on all Floridians to speak out against this campaign of fear, censorship, and government overreach.
Why It Matters
If a district like Hillsborough, which followed the law and included community input, can be coerced into mass removals, it sends a chilling message to every school district in the state. This is about more than books. It is about preserving local control, protecting the expertise of educators, and ensuring students in Florida have access to a complete and inclusive education.
Florida deserves better than fear-based governance. It deserves the freedom to read and learn.
What You Can Do
- Support the organizations leading the fight. Contribute to and follow the Florida Freedom to Read Project, as well as others working to protect the right to read. Local organizations provide vital updates on the state of censorship in Florida, as well as strategies to fight back.
- Call your friends and family in Florida. Let them know what is happening in Hillsborough County and across the state. Encourage them to speak out and stay informed.
- Contact your local school district. Tell them you support all educators, including media specialists. Let them know you trust their professional judgment and appreciate the importance of maintaining a diverse range of books on the shelves.
- Speak up at school board meetings. If you live in Florida, your voice matters. Attend local meetings, submit public comments, and make it clear that censorship is not the will of the majority.
- Share on social media. Use your platform to raise awareness. The more people who know, the harder it is for these decisions to happen quietly.
