School libraries will look the same when classes resume Thursday ... but they're not

School libraries may look the same when students return to classes Thursday. But behind the scenes, they've undergone a transformation, forced upon school districts as they push to comply with new state laws.

School librarians — these days called media specialists — have spent the last few months reviewing every book in the school media centers. They've undergone mandated training and weeded through their collections to ensure every item meets new state standards and is age-appropriate, as defined by the Florida Department of Education.

The change for school libraries is one of many imposed by the Legislature over the past two sessions. The 2022 law requires elementary schools to post, by June each year, a list of their media-center books on their websites. Every book, whether purchased or donated, must be reviewed by the media specialist before going on shelves. School boards now are required to adopt procedures on how district media centers select books — and those procedures have to be posted online.

State law also requires school boards adopt policies on how to challenge books in the media center; and for districts to post a list of all books removed because of a challenge.

It's back to school on Thursday

Nearly 82,000 students across the Indian River, Martin and St. Lucie county school districts begin the 2023-2024 school year Thursday. Last school year ended with 81,510 students enrolled in Treasure Coast public schools: 17,199 students in Indian River County; 18,650 in Martin; and 45,661 in St. Lucie, according to state records.

Despite the new laws, students are unlikely to notice any differences in their media centers, educators say. Elementary pupils will continue making regular visits to the media center with their classes. Media specialists will continue helping students find books that spark their interests ... with the goal of creating lifelong readers.

"It's business as usual," said Jennifer Lubeno, coordinator of professional learning for Martin County schools. "Martin County's (school) shelves are full."

But those school media centers are different this year. Some schools may have some empty spots on the shelves as outdated books and materials have been removed to make room for newer content, educators said. Books deemed inappropriate because of sexual — or, in some cases, racial content — also have been removed after some people complained.

Martin County schools removed more than 90 book titles last school year after one individual filed complaints. In St. Lucie County, the School Board rejected a challenge by a non-parent to 16 books and kept them in the media centers, although some were moved to higher grade levels.

Book-review process was more intense this year

While media specialists always have checked their collections on an ongoing basis, the state-mandated review ramped up the intensity.

"We spent several months just going through the books," said Sherry White, media specialist at Oslo Middle School in Indian River County. "It's not something I didn't do in the past. I did that anyway. But now, it was much more diligent."

Some Indian River County schools are expecting their first new shipment of books in two years, officials said. Book orders were put on hold in 2021 while the district dealt with book challenges, said Kyra Schafte, district director of academic compliance and equity. Indian River was among the first in the state to receive such a massive challenge all at once, requiring a committee of media specialists to review them and make recommendations to the board. District policy changed: Book orders now require School Board approval, she said.

In February 2021, the Indian River board removed just six of the 156 books challenged, but moved some of the titles to upper grade levels, where officials felt they were more appropriate. At the same time, the board changes policies on book challenges and on parental restriction of what their children could access, Schafte explained. This year — with the expectation the Legislature could pass laws addressing school media centers and classroom libraries — the district thought it best to pause any book purchases, Schafte said.

Book ordering now has resumed. Four schools — Osceola and Rosewood magnets, Oslo Middle and Vero Beach Elementary — received School Board approval July 25 to buy books for the new school year.

Oslo officials reached out to the community and the School Advisory Committee for assistance in reviewing books and getting recommendations for new ones, White said. Donated books also had to be reviewed before they could be placed on shelves, she said.

Taking time 'to really know what we have'

"It does create more work for us," White said. But the process, she added, made parents and the media specialists feel comfortable and good about how books were selected. Parents and the community reviewed titles and state law to ensure they were in compliance, she said.

"It gave us the opportunity to free up space on our shelves," said Diane Parentela, Osceola Magnet and a district lead media specialist. "We've taken the time to really know what we have."

Schools used the 2022 law as justification to reevaluate their shelving system, such as placing books in a way that makes them more likely to draw students' attention, said Parentela.

"Those are all things we've been able to incorporate since we've taken all this time to really know what is in our collection and really get to know all the books that we really have to be able to encourage the right kid with the right book," Parentela said.

While the new state law forced media specialists to review their collections, the process turned out to be a positive mandate, some say. They were able to weed out books that were no longer relevant, were outdated and no longer appealed to students — making way for newer books, according to Katelyn O'Neal, Vero Beach Elementary and a district lead media specialist.

"It gave us time to weed things," said O'Neal. "After COVID and schools shutting down, we really needed to evaluate just the geographical spaces of our library. They were just old."

Sitting on a shelf for five years

Some books hadn't been checked out in more than five years. Some were written before today's students were even born, O'Neal said.

"It was nice to take that time to make our spaces more visually impressive. We were able to pare back some of the collections that were outdated and not circulating."

In Martin County, each school media center orders its own books and maintains its own collection. Collections might vary from school to school, Lubeno said.

Martin County schools always maintained a continual review of their books, spokeswoman Jennifer DeShazo said, but the new law gave the district incentive to double-check what it already was doing.

Likewise, St. Lucie County students are unlikely to notice a difference in their media centers, despite all the effort put in by media specialists to get ready for the opening of school, said district spokeswoman Lydia Martin in an email.

"Our media centers are rich learning environments designed to stimulate a love of reading," Martin said. Media centers continue to be set up by age and grade level, she said.

While media specialists spent their summer reading, they'll admit reading every title is unnecessary and there's no way they could read thousands of books. All books, however, have been reviewed to comply with the law.

Reading every book in the media center is unnecessary to comply with the law, educators said.

"Media specialists are trained on professional methods for book selection, which include professional reviews, age appropriateness, awards and balance of genres, topics, fiction and nonfiction in each collection," Martin said.

Media specialists used book reviews, Sunshine State-award-winning books and data to decide which books should stay and which books should be replaced with those that will appeal to today's students, Parentela said.

Indian River County School Board refuses to ban most of the 156 books on group's hit list

More: The lowdown: 20,000 volumes leave Sebastian River High School library? Book ban run amok?

School media specialists on the hot seat in their new role: arbiters of book challenges

State laws allows parents to restrict what books or types of books their children can access. Forms are available on district websites. Challenges can be filed online as well.

Martin County schools went a step further, including the opt-out form in the back-to-school packet parents fill out each year, DeShazo said.

Colleen Wixon is the education reporter for TCPalm/Treasure Coast Newspapers. Contact her at colleen.wixon@tcpalm.com.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: School libraries will look the same when school opens, but they're not