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Book Bans in Florida
Counties with Bans and Restrictions
Alachua, Bay, Brevard, Broward, Clay, Collier, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Hernando, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Miami-Dade, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Seminole, Volusia, Wakulla, and Walton counties have all banned at least one book from circulation entirely. Many counties ban other books at the elementary or middle school level but allow those same books at higher levels. Some counties require parental consent for certain books.
Censorship reflects a society's lack of confidence in itself.
Potter Stewart, Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court
Frequently Asked Questions
If your question is not answered below, please email request@freebannedbook.com.
If you are a Florida public school student, you may submit a request for any book from the list of Florida's banned books.
Banned books are books that are entirely prohibited from circulation at your school library. Typically, these books were removed in response to an objection. Sometimes, a librarian refused to stock the book or removed a book preemptively.
Restricted books are available to only a certain subset of students. For example, some school districts make certain books available only if the student meets a minimum grade level or obtains parental consent.
Across Florida, there is a massive effort to ban books that some adults believe are "harmful to minors." Often, these books are fictional stories that discuss the hard truths about difficult topics such as race, gender, sexuality, religion, suicide, self-harm, war, violence, drug use, mental health, trauma, abuse, sexual activity, puberty, and growing up. Other times, nonfiction guides to these topics are considered too graphic, either in their text or accompanying illustrations.
Typically, bans and restrictions are a response to objections made by conservative activists and religious groups like Concerned Citizens Defending Freedom and Moms For Liberty. While the names of these groups deceptively imply that they support the right to read, these organizations are actually intent on censoring viewpoints they find disagreeable.
Under Florida law, each school district must have a policy that allows parents or county residents to object to a library book that they believe "is pornographic, is not suited to student needs and their ability to comprehend the material presented, or is inappropriate for the grade level and age group for which the material is used."
To request a banned or restricted book, fill out the form on the request tab.
To ensure all students have access to banned and restricted books, we kindly ask that students request no more than one banned or restricted book per school year. From time to time, we may allow students to request an additional book, if the student has received a book and provided us with a review of the book for inclusion on our website.
If your request is approved, we will purchase the book and ship it directly to the physical address provided in your request submission.
Read it! It’s yours. No need to return it. However, sharing is caring, so please consider giving it to a friend or dropping your book off at a Little Free Library near you!
Don‘t forget to send us a review of the book at request@freebannedbook.com. If you do, we may include your review in our Banned Book Blog.
Yes! We are registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. All donations are tax deductible.
We accept monetary donations by Zeffy, Venmo, and Paypay. We also accept donations of banned and restricted books by mail. For more information on mailing donations, please send an email to request@freebannedbook.com.
“A book is a loaded gun in the house next door...Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man?”
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451