Library Access Data 23/24 School Year

During the 2023 Florida Legislative Session, a new bill (HB 1069) expanded the efforts of the "Don't Say Gay" bill (HB 1557) and the "Book Ban/Transparency" bill (HB 1467) from the prior year. One of the provisions, now law, is that every school district must give parents a way to restrict library access for their children. Yes, an informal process always existed at the school level, but this big government provision prompted most districts to create a formal process for a parent to opt-in or opt-out of library access like we saw a few districts offer last year. Here are the trends and changes to the level of access we see happening around the state.

Overwhelmingly, Parents Trust Their Educators

For the most part districts that offered a parent opt-out saw similar responses. The choices varied from one district to the next, but often it was a default of unlimited access, followed by a mid-range set of limitations, ending with either no access or a parent giving permission for each check out. To make an easy comparison across districts, we combined any level of parent restrictions into a single category and compared it to the percentage of students that had full access. 

There were also a number of districts that reported 100% student access to start the year. Some of these districts did not implement a formal opt-out form, while others have a form (unused by any parent) with restriction options.

Some Districts Put Caution Above Education

A few districts have started the year with limited or no access for students without parent permission or until the district completes a full review of their library materials. Here's a quick overview of the districts we know about:

1. Escambia - Classroom libraries are completely closed around the district, and most media center shelves are covered until the titles have been reviewed and approved by a certified media specialist.
2. Jefferson - Media centers are currently closed while the district finalizes their library policy updates and comes into compliance with all provisions in HB 1069.
3. Collier - The library access form must be completed by a parent/guardian as part of the required annual paperwork before a student can check out books in the library. UPDATE 1/16/23: The district announced it will change the opt-in policy to an opt-out going forward. At the end of the first semester, 77% of parents completed the library access permission form, and only 70 parents had indicated a desire to limit their child's access. Conversely, 23% of students were still without parent permission to check out books in the library due to parent inaction. The district stated they did not want to cause unintentional restrictions on these students.
4. Clay - Students at the primary level are granted check out access unless a parent completes a form stating otherwise, but at the secondary level parent permission is required before a student is allowed to use the media center.
5. Volusia - The default access here is limited without explicit "unlimited" access designated by a parent. This means titles that fall into the "young adult" category in middle schools will not be accessible to most middle school students. Limited access also still requires individual parent permission forms to access certain titles that have been challenged, but retained after review. 
6. Lee - The default access here is limited to titles that have not been formally challenged or reviewed for potentially objectionable content. The "full access" option still has limits. A parent will need to give additional permission to access books with district assigned restrictions on them.

The Data May Shift, But Unlikely to Really Change

We anticipate that the opt-out numbers could grow slightly as the year progresses, but if it's anything like last year, it's unlikely we'll see more than 15% of parents in any one district set restrictions on library access. Currently, we have heard back from about half of the districts.

We do not have numbers for Clay yet. Last year they only had six students out of more than 38,000 with parental limits in the library. This year, all of their secondary students are restricted by default. 

We also are waiting to hear what Citrus did this year. Last year they unsuccessfully offered a parent opt-in that left of quarter of its students without access in the library because their parents never turned in a completed form. 

There will be updates to this page as the 23/24 school year progresses. We plan to ask for end of Q1 data as well as a mid-year check.

One thing is for sure, laws are being written to cater to a very small percentage of citizens that support the idea of government censorship in the library. Our hope is that this data bolsters the confidence of our district leaders to err on the side of education.