It is likely that the process of removing inappropriate books from school libraries will accelerate soon.

The school district is required by law to review all library books and remove or restrict those that are inappropriate. The 2022 law says certified media specialists must review all books in school media centers and classroom libraries. 

While hundreds of books have been challenged and removed from nearby Clay County school libraries, only 15 books have been removed in Duval, and that was done before the new law.

Furthermore:

• The school district has no idea how many books are in the libraries.
• They have no idea how many books have been reviewed.
• They make it extremely difficult for anyone else to examine the books small children can read.

There is a database of books, but it cannot be searched or viewed.

You can only go to a catalog of books in each school and search for a book by name.

Good luck on finding the link buried in the school district’s Web site.

Even with those restrictions, it took Eye on Jacksonville about 10 minutes to find a book that most people would find unsuitable. It is in the library collection of Lee High School (now called Riverside).

Obviously, any sincere effort could find more such books.

Eye has learned that about 60 unsuitable books have been removed from local school libraries quietly and “unofficially.” While that is a step forward, the board at some point should make it official so the books are not returned if a disaster should occur, such as the return of a liberal majority on the board.

Fortunately, the new superintendent and the School Board majority seem to be on top of the problem.

There is a workshop scheduled for Wednesday May 28 and Board Member Melody Bolduc is expected to recommend citizens committees to review books and other changes to the process to make it fair, transparent and much quicker. The committees would focus on finding books that have been found objectionable elsewhere, instead of wasting time by reading and evaluating Tom Sawyer and Little House on the Prairie.

This is progress. With a watchful board, a diligent superintendent and the ongoing attention of parental rights groups such as Moms for Liberty, Jacksonville may be able to clean up its school libraries and begin protecting children, at last.