Volusia County vote to examine libraries’ book review process

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Some Volusia County leaders are worried about potentially controversial children’s books children may have access to in Volusia County’s public libraries.

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However, some parents in Volusia County said they have a problem with county council controlling what’s on the shelves at public libraries, and that the checks and balances could lead to total bans.

This week, the council voted to take a look at how children’s books are being reviewed before they go into circulation at local libraries.

Parents said censoring books at public libraries crosses legal lines, but council members said they are nowhere near that step.

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“As far as children and pushing agendas, propaganda into children, I think it’s prudent to have a forum to hear complaints from citizens,” said Councilor Don Dempsey, who made a motion to monitor books being placed in children’s sections at public libraries, and to come up with a clear path to get certain material out of circulation.

The push comes following a wave of book bans in Florida schools.

Camile Holder-Brown home-schools all of her children and often use the public library for her lesson plans.

“Libraries are one of my favorite places in the world because of the freedom there,” she said. “I can see where some people may think some things are inappropriate, but that is our job as a parent to decipher with our children and navigate with them. We can’t censor everything in the world.”

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As for if other council members are concerned about running into legal issues, Council member Danny Robins responded in part, “Although I am not an attorney, this to me is common sense. If people want to argue that this is 1st amendment related, have at it. I’d argue and make a suggestion that they would need their heads examined.”

County officials plan to have the library’s director give a presentation on how the book-approving process works. A date for that has not been set.

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