ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Parents in St. Johns County are working to get more than 50 books removed from school libraries that they say are inappropriate for children.
It’s part of a bigger push by conservative parents in Florida to have books touching on subjects like gender identity and racism removed from schools.
The St. Johns County School Board will meet next week for a special meeting to review seven books that parents have objected to.
One of the books, written by “Queer Eye” star Jonathan Van Ness, is titled “Peanut Goes for the Gold” and is about “a gender nonbinary guinea pig who does everything with their own personal flare.”
Other books up for review Tuesday include:
In “My Rainbow,” a mother creates a rainbow-colored wig for her transgender daughter, according to the book’s description.
“Me and White Supremacy” is a book described as a book that “challenges you to do the essential work of unpacking your biases, and helps white people take action and dismantle the privilege within themselves so that you can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too.”
The books up for review are in at least one school, but the district said it is not sure how many school libraries carry each title.
A school district spokesperson said the seven books in question have already been reviewed by both school and district committees who found they should remain in schools.
Jean Moore, who has filed 49 of the 56 objections to school district books received by the district, spoke last week during a regular school board meeting.
“I believe that we have a very serious issue regarding library book content in our county,” Moore said. “There is so much sex and violence at every turn in our culture, parents should feel confident that their children are in a safe zone at school.”
Superintendent Tim Forson sent letters to Moore and the four other parents who objected to the books and expressed support for the decision to keep the books.
“The District Media Advisory Committee reached consensus on March 30, 2022 that this book should remain in the school’s collection,” Forson wrote, referring to Moore’s objection to “All Boys Aren’t Blue.” “I respect and support the choice of a parent to restrict their child(ren) from checking out a particular book.”
The district said it has a mechanism to prevent children from checking out certain books through its “Individualized School Library Access Plan.”
News4JAX reached out to Van Ness to see if they had any comment on the attempt to remove their book, but we did not yet hear back.
The school board is expected to hear more from those who objected to the books during the Tuesday meeting scheduled for 9 a.m.
49 other books will also eventually be reviewed by the district at a later date.
