Florida School Librarian Quits Over Ban on Sexually Explicit Books, Gets WaPo Feature
An Osceola County school librarian says she was driven to quit her job over Florida’s laws concerning sexually explicit material in classrooms, according to a new sob story published by the Washington Post.
In the new piece published Saturday, Washington Post writer Ruby Cramer details the story of Tania GaliƱanes, described in the headline as “the librarian who couldn’t take it anymore.”
“Tania had planned to spend the rest of her career in the Osceola County School District. She was 51. She could have stayed for years at Tohopekaliga, a school she loved that had only just opened in 2018,” Cramer wrote. “The library was clean and new. The shelves were organized. The chairs had wheels that moved soundlessly across the carpet. The floor plan was open, designed by architects who had promised ‘the 21st century media center.’ā
Apparently, that all came crashing down in April 2022 when Osceola parents objected to certain sexually explicit and pornographic books being carried in the district’s libraries.
“…Tania watched parents read aloud from books they described as a danger to kids. It was before she received a phone call from the district, the day after that, instructing her to remove four books from her shelves.”
At least one of those books included “Gender Queer,” which includes graphic illustrations of oral sex and discussion of masturbation.
Cramer wrote that GaliƱanes was required to watch a “mandatory hour-long video” and that she “heard the state say that books in the library must not contain sexual content that could be ‘harmful to minors’ and that violating this statute would result in a third-degree felony.”
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The Florida law seems perfectly reasonable. No books easily accessible to children that contain age-inappropriate sexual material (i.e., porn).
— David Gray (@Bad_DavidG) November 11, 2023
According to the piece, GaliƱanes was so heavily affected by the new rules that she began having trouble sleeping, started taking anti-anxiety medication, and experienced breakouts of hives and eczema.
“It had been seven months since she began collecting Floridaās laws and statutes in a purple folder on her desk, highlighting the sections that made her mad, and also the ones that could get her fired. Six months since she broke out in hives, since eczema crept up the side of her face, since she started having trouble sleeping and got a prescription for an anti-anxiety medication. Five months since she stood in her house crying and her husband said it wasnāt worth it anymore. He could work two jobs if he had to. ‘You need to quit,’ heād told her.”
“Six weeks since the start of another school year. Five weeks since she had given her notice,” Cramer wrote.
The added challenge of keeping pornographic content out of kids’ school libraries was reportedly so great that GaliƱanes “had to quit,” according to the Washington Post.
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This is so sad.
She canāt encourage kids to read gay porn anymore, so her life is basically over.(PS – there are no book bans in FL.)
— KJPās Notebook (@KJPsNotebook) November 11, 2023
Are these the books that couldnāt be shown on TV due to indecency?
— Chris G (@ChrisGThree4) November 11, 2023
Following the piece’s publication, readers shared their confusion on the social media platform X.
“Waitā¦sheās retiring because sheās not allowed to keep sexually explicit books on the shelves of a school library?” One commenter wrote. “She never should have been a school librarian. Good riddance to her.”
“Why stick around if you can’t corrupt kids? What would be the point?” another user remarked sarcastically.
“So sad. Another groomer big mad they can’t peddle porn to kids.”
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