ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Right after the Florida Board of Education concluded its August meeting in St. Augustine, a gathering of authors, parents, students, and advocates for literature took place near the meeting venue, organized in part by PEN America, a nonprofit that champions literary freedom.

The movement to ban certain books in Florida began in earnest in 2023 with a new law enacted by the state. Earlier in the summer, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier sent a letter to the Hillsborough County School Superintendent, demanding the “immediate removal” of specific books from schools, labeling them as “patently pornographic.”

Ryan Perry, a member of the State Board of Education, commented to the superintendent in June, “I’ve reviewed these books. They are nasty, disgusting books. They have no place in Florida schools, not even in California.”

That request from Uthmeier led to other counties across the state either reviewing or, in some cases, yanking certain books off the shelves.

During the PEN America assembly in St. Augustine on Wednesday, William Johnson addressed the attendees, saying, “Just this summer, as many as 600 books have been removed from shelves in at least nine counties.”

Johnson, serving as the PEN America Florida director, argued that the excerpts the state used as justification for book removals were quoted out of context.

“We’re talking about books like The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, The Kite Runner, even still, Judy Blume,” Johnson said.

Kristin Arnett, an author who lives in Orlando, was at Wednesday’s gathering. She told First Coast News, “Many of the materials that were removed are not something that anyone would sit down and consider pornographic.”

A federal judge this month said the Florida law passed in 2023 — allowing parents to challenge books over purportedly pornographic content — was overbroad and unconstitutional.

Johnson said, “I’m happy about the judge’s decision. I’m still concerned about state overreach because we’re finding the state doesn’t care about rules.”

Meanwhile, the Florida Board of Education continued its work, with one of the last comments of Wednesday’s meeting coming from Board Member Kelly Garcia, “I am glad we were able to shine a light again on some of the inappropriate instructional materials that are clearly inappropriate and continue to sit on our shelves and that are very easy for children to access.”