The New College of Florida has thrown away hundreds of books from its main campus library, as well as from the library of its recently-shuttered Gender and Diversity Center, The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported Thursday.
Many of the discarded books covered topics relate to sexuality, gender orientation and religious studies, including “When I Knew,” a collection of first-person stories recounting when the authors first realized they were gay. Books from the main library were driven away from campus in a garbage truck, while students had a chance to sort through the books discarded from the GDC and take some home.
Amy Reid, New College’s faculty chair and a representative on the board of trustees, told The Herald-Tribune that “books are what matter,” and compared throwing them away to throwing away democracy.
Across Florida, public universities are shuttering student resource and community centers in order to comply with a state law banning public spending on DEI programming. New College was the first target of Gov. Ron DeSantis’s ongoing campaign to remake the state’s public university system according to his conservative vision.
