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Florida Freedom to Read Project @flfreedomread.bsky.social · 8h

Without an ounce of shame, our Education Commissioner let everyone know that judging a book by its cover is not only totally acceptable down here in FL, it’s expected.

Oh, and a judge here has ruled that this isn’t an infringement of First Amendment rights because we don’t have them in the library.

Screenshot of a post by Florida’s Education Commissioner accusing Hillsborough County School District of providing access to an “inappropriate” book based solely on the cover.

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Florida Freedom to Read Project @flfreedomread.bsky.social · 9h

This x1000!

No one is coming to save us from this. We need to do the work!

Use this week to get educated about the issue and to find likeminded people in your community to hold one another accountable going forward.

Need a guide to get you started?

www.freedomtoreadproject.org/turning_the_...

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Florida Freedom to Read Project @flfreedomread.bsky.social · 16h

Are you familiar with the shock that happens when you look back at an old picture of your child and realize the change that happened little-by-little, day-after-day?

Well, we just realized that we have tracked over 11,000 censorship attempts in FL on over 4,500 unique titles since fall 2021.

a woman in a green shirt is holding a cup of ice cream

Alt: Emma Stone in a green shirt is holding a cup of ice cream

media.tenor.com

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Reposted by Florida Freedom to Read Project

Cat Winters / C. E. Winters @catwintersbooks.bsky.social · 16h

If you're not a published author or illustrator, there are other organizations you can join or subscribe to if you want to help protect the freedom to read. @uabookbans.bsky.social is one. @flfreedomread.bsky.social and @txfreedomread.bsky.social are major organizations to follow in those states.

Cat Winters / C. E. Winters @catwintersbooks.bsky.social · 18h

I'm reposting this one again as an action item for all of you writers, illustrators, translators, and anthology editors this #BannedBooksWeek.

We are stronger together through @authorsabb.bsky.social. Trainings included.

authorsagainstbookbans.com

bsky.app/profile/catw...

Cat Winters / C. E. Winters @catwintersbooks.bsky.social · Apr 17

Do not wait for your books to be banned to join @authorsabb.bsky.social. Please stand up for our colleagues, our readers, and the freedom to read and write today.

www.authorsagainstbookbans.com

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Reposted by Florida Freedom to Read Project

Freedom to Read Project @freedomreadproject.bsky.social · 19h

CONCRETE ROSE by Angie Thomas is a powerful, heartfelt novel that deserves a place on every shelf.

Banning this book erases critical conversations about responsibility, masculinity, and identity that matter deeply to today’s youth.

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Florida Freedom to Read Project @flfreedomread.bsky.social · 20h

Hillsborough’s Comms team is working extra hard to make it sound like students weren’t impacted by the review.

It’s not done.

Also, it’s dishonest to say that the law requires these books to be pulled from students while under review. That’s a district decision.

www.axios.com/local/tampa-...

Report: Hillsborough 2nd in the U.S. for books pulled from school libraries

The report found that Hillsborough County Public Schools removed 608 books from their shelves.

www.axios.com

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Florida Freedom to Read Project @flfreedomread.bsky.social · 20h

“The ruling confirms that these censorship efforts are about ensuring our publicly funded libraries are no longer guided by professional expertise or the interests of the people, but by the whims of politicians.”

www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

‘Tango’ Plaintiffs Plan an Appeal to the 11th Circuit

And Tango Makes Three authors Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, whose First Amendment claim against Florida’s Escambia County School Board was dismissed in federal court last week, will appeal to t...

www.publishersweekly.com

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Florida Freedom to Read Project @flfreedomread.bsky.social · 20h

“By concluding that students have no right to receive info in public school libraries and that the government decides who speaks through them, the court disregards decades of precedent that recognize school libraries as spaces for exploration and learning.”

www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

‘Tango’ Plaintiffs Plan an Appeal to the 11th Circuit

And Tango Makes Three authors Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, whose First Amendment claim against Florida’s Escambia County School Board was dismissed in federal court last week, will appeal to t...

www.publishersweekly.com

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Reposted by Florida Freedom to Read Project

skellyton bones jensen @heykellyjensen.bsky.social · 2d

Yep, it's kind of like when Florida insisted on creating as many barriers for young people to use school libraries as possible, it was a teeny tiny fraction of parents who barred their kids from using those libraries.

It's all lies and story made up in bigots' brains.

bookriot.com/florida-scho...

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Reposted by Florida Freedom to Read Project

Freedom to Read Project @freedomreadproject.bsky.social · 2d

✨ Happy Banned Books Week! ✨

This year, make your advocacy count with “Turning the Page: An Advocate’s Guide to the Freedom to Read.”

Download it free today and turn your support for banned books into real-world action.
www.freedomtoreadproject.org/turning_the_...

Cover of Turning the Page: An advocate’s guide to the freedom to read

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Florida Freedom to Read Project @flfreedomread.bsky.social · 2d

“Advocacy must shift from isolated book battles to defending institutional autonomy and resisting the ideological nationalization of censorship.”

buckscountybeacon.com/2025/10/the-...

The Quiet Creep of Censorship: How ‘Everyday Banning’ Is Reshaping American Schools - Bucks County Beacon

PEN America’s new report “The Normalization of Book Banning” exposes how book censorship has become “rampant and common” in public schools across the United States.

buckscountybeacon.com

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Reposted by Florida Freedom to Read Project

Mychal Threets @mychal3ts.bsky.social · 4d

Reading Rainbow… is back! 🥹

This LeVar Burton/Reading Rainbow raised human is feeling all of the library joy. We hope your kids believe they belong in books, just like you ✨

Take a look, it’s in a book 📚🌈🦋🌌
youtu.be/gHAIjSkmnYI?...

No Cats In The Library 🐱📚 | Reading Rainbow 📖 🌈 | Full Episode | @Kidzuko

YouTube video by Kidzuko

youtu.be

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Florida Freedom to Read Project @flfreedomread.bsky.social · 4d

The attorneys filed a notice of appeal three days after Chief U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor ruled against authors Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson and the student…

www.clickorlando.com/news/2025/10...

Authors appeal ‘Tango Makes Three’ book ban ruling in federal court

Attorneys for the book’s authors and a student Friday quickly appealed a federal judge’s ruling that rejected a First Amendment challenge to a 2023 decision by the Escambia County School Board to remo...

www.clickorlando.com

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Florida Freedom to Read Project @flfreedomread.bsky.social · 5d

Attend an event. Read a banned book. Send an email. But more than anything, talk to your friends and neighbors about what’s at stake.

If they can remove a book you loathe, they can remove a book you love.

Make it a goal next week to inspire one new person a day into action!

Authors Against Book Bans @authorsabb.bsky.social · 5d

AABB is proud to join this coalition of groups fighting for the freedom to read. Nothing gives us more hope than the understanding that while the fight may be daunting, we are not in it alone. 1/3

Standing together for the freedom to read.

All students, all people, deserve and require access to information.

Access to books is essential for the free exchange of ideas and for the protection of a healthy democracy.

Books hold a pivotal role in our culture—a role that must be projected.

During Banned Books Week, we recommit ourselves to fighting censorship and authoritarianism all year round.

Today, a well-coordinated network of politically motivated public officials, groups are attacking our fundamental freedoms—including our freedom to read.

Thousands of books that predominantly depict people of color and LBGTQ+ people and that discuss sex, gender, sexuality, race, and racism are banned in public schools and libraries across the country.

These attacks on school districts and public libraries, educators and librarians, authors and illustrators, and the publishers and booksellers that support them are stripping students, families, and all library patrons of their freedom to read and learn.

These efforts upend the lives of students, families, authors, illustrators, educators, and librarians. It leads to erasure from the shelves, harassment from would be censors, denial of access to books, job loss, and financial and emotional distress.

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Florida Freedom to Read Project @flfreedomread.bsky.social · 5d

Thanks to a ruling this week, a dystopian notice like this could appear taped to a door of an ECPS library.

To be clear, this wasn’t actually posted, but it doesn’t change the fact that this is the current reality for the people of Escambia County.

We should all be very, very loud about this.

NOTICE

A US DISTRICT COURT HAS RULED THAT LIBRARY PATRONS AND AUTHORS DO NOT HAVE FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS TO RECEIVE OR SHARE INFORMATION IN OUR PUBLICLY-FUNDED LIBRARIES.

YOU ARE HEREBY INFORMED THAT THIS LIBRARY WILL BE CURATED AT THE DISCRETION AND PLEASURE OF POLITICIANS - NOT THE PEOPLE.

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Florida Freedom to Read Project @flfreedomread.bsky.social · 5d

The state did away with categorical funding for school libraries a couple of budgets ago. They cannot say they support literacy improvements while failing to properly fund our school libraries (and our schools for that matter).

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Reposted by Florida Freedom to Read Project

skellyton bones jensen @heykellyjensen.bsky.social · 5d

Trying to figure out how many ways we can flash the red lights here. This was NEVER EVER ABOUT BOOKS. Books were the tool.

THEY ARE STEALING YOUR RIGHTS.

THEY
ARE
STEALING
YOUR
RIGHTS.

Florida Freedom to Read Project @flfreedomread.bsky.social · 5d

Reporters, here’s the assignment:

Next time an elected or appointed official responds with, “it’s not banned because you can still buy it,” the mandatory followup question is, “Do you believe Americans have a First Amendment right to access and share speech in our publicly-funded libraries?”

Florida Freedom to Read Project @flfreedomread.bsky.social · 5d

In order for Judge Winsor to get to the conclusion that access elsewhere was an acceptable solution for a school to remove a book based on viewpoint, he had to deny patrons and authors their First Amendment rights in the library.

Let that sink in.

floridaphoenix.com/2025/10/02/s...

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Reposted by Florida Freedom to Read Project

skellyton bones jensen @heykellyjensen.bsky.social · 6d

If you shouted about how unfair it was Jimmy Kimmel was taken off air, then you should sure as shit care that YOUR RIGHTS ARE BEING TAKEN FROM YOU.

bookriot.com/parnell-vs-e...

Another Judge Chips Away at Library Patron First Amendment Rights

A District Court judge rules that neither library patrons nor authors have First Amendment rights when it comes to library collections.

bookriot.com

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Florida Freedom to Read Project @flfreedomread.bsky.social · 5d

Reporters, here’s the assignment:

Next time an elected or appointed official responds with, “it’s not banned because you can still buy it,” the mandatory followup question is, “Do you believe Americans have a First Amendment right to access and share speech in our publicly-funded libraries?”

Florida Freedom to Read Project @flfreedomread.bsky.social · 5d

In order for Judge Winsor to get to the conclusion that access elsewhere was an acceptable solution for a school to remove a book based on viewpoint, he had to deny patrons and authors their First Amendment rights in the library.

Let that sink in.

floridaphoenix.com/2025/10/02/s...

Judge: Escambia County did not violate First Amendment by removing same-sex penguin book • Florida Phoenix

Escambia County did not violate students’ First Amendment rights in keeping from them a book about two male penguins raising a chick together, a federal judge found this week. In a suit between the a...

floridaphoenix.com

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Florida Freedom to Read Project @flfreedomread.bsky.social · 5d

The Americans that have settled on, “it’s not banned because you can still buy it at the store” are conceding their rights and yours to receive or share information in our publicly funded libraries.

So much for being staunch defenders of “Liberty” and “Freedom” for “We The People.”

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Florida Freedom to Read Project @flfreedomread.bsky.social · 5d

In order for Judge Winsor to get to the conclusion that access elsewhere was an acceptable solution for a school to remove a book based on viewpoint, he had to deny patrons and authors their First Amendment rights in the library.

Let that sink in.

floridaphoenix.com/2025/10/02/s...

Judge: Escambia County did not violate First Amendment by removing same-sex penguin book • Florida Phoenix

Escambia County did not violate students’ First Amendment rights in keeping from them a book about two male penguins raising a chick together, a federal judge found this week. In a suit between the a...

floridaphoenix.com

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Florida Freedom to Read Project @flfreedomread.bsky.social · 5d

Individuals & orgs are out there doing the work, talking about policy, creating briefs, testifying, speaking at board meetings, working w/coalitions, and building relationships with the proper stakeholders and decision-makers to have the biggest impact.

www.schoollibraryjournal.com/story/Librar...

Library Advocacy Requires a Voice in the Legislative Process

Having a say in legislation is a critical piece of advocacy right now. Hear from experts on how to help grassroots organizations, testify before boards and legislators, and make an impact.

www.schoollibraryjournal.com

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Reposted by Florida Freedom to Read Project

Texas Freedom to Read Project @txfreedomread.bsky.social · 6d

Stop what you’re doing and read this op ed by @ashleyhopeperez.bsky.social right now.

Gift link:
www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outl...

First Texas schools banned my book. Now it's 'To Kill a Mockingbird.'

The problem isn't just the new state law. It's how some school leaders are reacting to it.

www.houstonchronicle.com

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Reposted by Florida Freedom to Read Project

Freedom to Read Project @freedomreadproject.bsky.social · 6d

According to PEN America’s latest report, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE was the most banned book of 2024—and that should trouble us all.

Books that make us uncomfortable are often the ones that make us think the most. Banning them makes our shelves, and our society, poorer.

#FreedomToRead #BookBans

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Reposted by Florida Freedom to Read Project

skellyton bones jensen @heykellyjensen.bsky.social · 6d

Another reason we can't "just get private bookmobiles to schools to get kids banned books" is that this isn't about the books. It's about the fundamental rights to democratic spaces that represent a whole community.

Right now, judges are chipping away at *our* rights.

bookriot.com/parnell-vs-e...

Another Judge Chips Away at Library Patron First Amendment Rights

A District Court judge rules that neither library patrons nor authors have First Amendment rights when it comes to library collections.

bookriot.com

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