One county in Florida is returning once-banned books to library shelves, following the settlement of a federal lawsuit, reports Politico.
Thirty-six books are returning to circulation in a central Florida school district this week. Their return is punctuated by a settlement between the Nassau County school officials and a group of parents, students, and the authors of one of the banned books.
Among the books that will again see the light of day are the children's book "And Tango Makes Three," whose authors were part of the lawsuit, Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye," and "The Clan of the Cave Bear" by Jean Auel.
"This settlement — a watershed moment in the ongoing battle against book censorship in the United Sates — significantly restores access to important works that were unlawfully removed from the shelves of Nassau County, Florida's public school libraries," asserted Lauren Zimmerman, a lawyer for the firm Selendy Gay PLLC, who is representing those in favor of returning books to their shelves.
District officials claimed some of the books were removed due to sexual content. The lawsuit claims the school board did not publicly vet the removed titles.
The settlement requires local schools to bring back a dozen books for students ages 18 and older or with parental consent including "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer and "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini.