Confusion over new laws leads to alleged closure of Escambia County school libraries

ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. -- As the school year is set to begin on Thursday, we're looking at how new laws are shaping students' learning.

Photos sent to WEAR News show signs at an Escambia County school that reads, "The library is closed indefinitely."

The signs say the closure allows them to comply with two state laws that went into effect in July, centered around inappropriate material in schools.

Now a lawsuit between the Department of Education and the authors of a controversial book is shedding light on the issue, and whether the new laws restrict library books, or just classroom textbooks.

"And Tango Makes Three" is at the heart of controversy once again.

You may remember the elementary school book that was removed from Escambia County schools earlier this year for inappropriate content.

Now, the authors of the book are suing the Lake County School District and Department of Education for once removing the book from its school libraries over the controversial HB 1069 or the "Parental Rights in Education" law.

The law prohibits any material with sexual content.

In a recent motion to dismiss the case, though, the Department of Education says, "these laws don't apply to library books." This caused further confusion on what is and isn't permitted to be on school library shelves.

So if the DoE says the laws don't apply to library books, why are they closed in Escambia County?

Photos sent by a parent in the Escambia County School District show a closed library until its in compliance with HB 1069.

One parent says she's received very little information on the issue at her child's school.

"I did speak with the school district rep for my children's schools, she did not know about this," Jill Sparks, a parent said. "She thought there would only be limited selection, so there seems to be confusion between the school board and what's being told to teachers."

"I have been told by a few people in the school district that libraries are closed in all schools, elementary, middle and high school," Sparks said.

The statute requires that a school "media specialist" review each book on the shelves. Each school library in Escambia County reportedly has 15-30,000 books each.

It's up to each district to comply with the law, and there's no timeline on how long this could take.

WEAR News asked the school district if this is the reason for the reported library closures. They haven't yet responded to our request for comment.

We're also waiting to hear from the Department of Education on whether or not it's a requirement to close libraries until they're in compliance.