COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. — 115 books positioned inside public faculty libraries in Collier County will now have advisory labels connected to them.

Collier County Public Schools positioned advisory notices round February and March following the just lately handed Parents’ Bill of Rights Law (Florida House Bill 241).

These books the place chosen based mostly on which oldsters and neighborhood members had expressed concern over, per CCPS.

“Our school district is mindful of and concerned with protecting the rights of all students and employees,” mentioned CCPS.  They additionally famous that no books have been faraway from any media facilities.

The majority of the books showcase quite a few totally different LGBTQ identities, together with homosexual, lesbian and transgender youth. Others embrace novels by African American authors and others of coloration.

“The Committee does not involve itself with decisions pertaining to the Advisory Notices.  The Committee reviews specific books objected to and makes recommendations accordingly.  Actions put into place prior to Administrative Procedure, including the placement of Advisory Notices, are subject to on-going review,” Collier County Public Schools mentioned in an announcement offered to NBC2.

We have been in a position to collect reactions from quite a few teams concerning the warning labels:

“Get your facts straight. Do your own research. Look at these books and see for yourself they are more than just LGBTQ focused. Hey if you don’t want your kids to read it, fine, but how about all these other kids whose parents want them to learn all these things,” mentioned Nicki Brock, a board member on the Naples Pride Center. 

The Naples Pride Center hosts quite a few day by day and weekly sources for the LGBTQ+ neighborhood, together with assist and youth teams. 

“A lot of these groups that are protesting this … are trying to put the LGBTQ community in a bad light. And really kick us out of the community. Its really unfortunate to see,” mentioned Brock, who added she is anxious this is step one in the direction of full censorship. 

Florida Citizens Alliance, a grassroots political group concentrated in Collier County, feels in a different way. The group is happy concerning the warning label and hopes it’s certainly a catalyst for future censorship. 

“Inappropriate material targeted towards minors. Sexually explicit however that may be, targeted towards minors. These are actually criminal offenses and our goal and our hope is that you would remove the danger from our kids,” mentioned Moise Stael Dantes, the group’s marketing campaign supervisor.

We additionally reached out to Lee and Charlotte County to see if that they had any plans to incorporate advisory labels of their content material. 

Charlotte County didn’t reply to our inquiry. 

A spokesperson for Lee County colleges instructed us that they haven’t any plans on including any advisory labels to their public colleges. They have a brand new program in place that lets dad and mom prohibit their very own little one’s entry to a selected guide in the event that they so select. 

This is an ongoing story. Count on us for additional info because it comes into our newsroom.