Report: Hillsborough 2nd in the U.S. for books pulled from school libraries
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Hillsborough County had the second highest number of books removed from library shelves among school districts in the U.S. over the last year, according to PEN America's annual "Banned in the USA" report.
Why it matters: The county's ranking comes months after Hillsborough Superintendent Van Ayres faced intense pressure to remove books deemed by the state inappropriate for students.
Driving the news: Florida again led the nation in book removals, with 2,304 titles pulled from shelves during the 2024-2025 school year.
- Three school districts in the state ranked among the top 10 in PEN America's Index of School Book Bans: Hillsborough was ranked second, Union County was sixth and Clay County was eighth.
- The review found that Hillsborough County Public Schools removed 608 books from their shelves. Titles include Colleen Hoover's "It Ends With Us" and Rainbow Rowell's "Eleanor and Park."
How it works: PEN America's Index of School Book Bans monitors instances in which a title is either temporarily or permanently removed from school libraries and classrooms in the U.S.
- To compile the index, the organization gathers information from sources that include local news outlets, school district official websites and school board meeting records.
Tanya Arja, a Hillsborough County Public Schools spokesperson, told Axios that Florida law requires every school district to review books removed elsewhere in the state to maintain "system-wide compliance."
- "This occurred during the summer when students were not in school," she added. PEN America's "total count includes books that were under review as well as those that were removed — treating them the same."
Zoom in: Hillsborough County permanently removed dozens of books from its school libraries after Ayres appeared before the state Board of Education in June, according to the Florida Freedom to Read Project.
- The school district pulled another 500 titles and offered its media specialists a stipend of $1,500 over the summer to review them.
Friction point: The state released its own report in September, saying that not a single book was removed from Hillsborough due to parental objections during the 2024-25 school year, per the Tampa Bay Times.
What they're saying: "Book bans harm public school systems and restrict education," reads PEN America's report.
- "The onslaught of these campaigns upon public schools is an attack on the very purpose of public education," it continues.