A library college dean in Florida has been placed on leave after it was revealed that she tossed hundreds of books in a landfill.
This event took place at the New College of Florida, an institution that Governor Ron DeSantis and other Republicans have supported in its endeavors to become more conservative and Christian.
The Changes at New College of Florida
New College is a small liberal arts institution in Sarasota, Florida that has recently been revamped by DeSantis and other Republican allies.
DeSantis has pushed for the school to be the “Hillsdale College of the South”, encouraging it be be more conservative and Christian.
Banning Books in Florida
Many schools and libraries have increasingly been banning books throughout Florida, especially as DeSantis and other conservatives fight against what they believe are books “indoctrinating” their children.
Now, New College of Florida is the latest school to ban books. However, the college’s library dean decided to take another, more public route in its decision to ban books.
Sending Books to a Landfill
Social media lit up last week after videos and reporting revealed that the college was sending hundreds of books to a landfill.
Many of these books had LGBTQ+ themes. Other books were relevant to religious studies. Photos and videos of this event showed a dumpster overflowing with books outside of the Jane Bancroft Cook Library.
Student Were Not Informed
Normally, when universities discard irrelevant or out-of-date texts, they inform students in case they would like to purchase the materials.
In this case, not only did the college not inform its students, but it threw the books away before most students would have returned to campus for the new semester.
The Library Dean Placed on Leave
Now, the school has announced that Shannon Hausinger, the New College of Florida’s dean of the library, has been placed on administrative leave.
This announcement comes after the school and library faced a large amount of backlash for their actions. There was much media coverage of the event, as well.
Not Following State Requirements
When announcing this leave, Nathan March, the New College of Florida’s spokesperson, explained that the dean didn’t follow all laws and requirements.
March explained that this leave was “taken after discovering that the library did not follow all of the state administrative requirements while conducting the routine disposition of materials.”
New College Staff Jumping Ship
The library’s dean is not the only one who took back from New College after the book dumping.
Amy Reid, the college’s chair of the dissolved gender studies department, announced she is taking a leave of absence without pay for a year. She told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune that she will work with PEN America during her year of leave, a nonprofit that advocates protecting free expression.
Questions Remain
Supporters of Hausinger have stated that there’s no indication that the dean didn’t meet certain requirements.
On Thursday, the college released a statement seemingly defending their actions by citing Florida Statue 273 as why they couldn’t donate these books — and why they had to send them to a landfill, instead.
Understanding the Public’s Frustration
After this event, New College President Richard Corcoran released a statement explaining he was aware of why the public was frustrated on Monday.
He said, “While the optics of seeing thousands of books in a dumpster are far from ideal, it is important to understand that the disposition of materials is a necessary process in libraries, and ensures that our collection remains relevant, up-to-date, and in good condition for our community’s use.”
Students Shocked
Natalia Benavides, an incoming senior at New College, said she and other students were not informed about the disposal of the texts.
“They didn’t tell us, they didn’t give us time,” said Benavides. She said she only heard about the ordeal through other students. “It was such a huge amount, and I was in shock,” said Benavides.
The Books Sent to the Landfill
Social media users have pointed out that many of these books sent to a landfill told stories about women, the LGBTQ+ community, as well as Black Americans.
Some of the books seen in the dumpster last week include the classic “The War of the Worlds”, as well as “Nine and Counting: The Women of the Senate.”
Throwing Away Other Materials
New College didn’t only throw away hundreds — if not thousands — of books that told various stories of American life. The college is also being accused of tossing materials and books from the Gender and Diversity Center.
The Gender and Diversity Center was previously a student-run and curated library that contained books about women, Black Americans, and the LGBTQ+ community. This center is now defunct.
The Changes Seen at New College
Over just the last year or so, large changes have been seen at New College as DeSantis and other Republicans have pushed for the institution to be more conservative.
This has led to the school seeing a new school board, as new leadership has been installed at the college. However, these changes have also led to various students and faculty fleeing the college to attend or work at other Florida universities.
A DeSantis Backed College
DeSantis has encouraged these changes at New College every step of the way.
After the new school board at the college voted to officially terminate the school’s gender studies program, DeSantis applauded the move, saying the college was “the first public university to push back on gender indoctrination.”
Rampant Censorship
Following reports of the book dump, the American Civil Liberties Union condemned the disposal of the books in a statement.
Bacardi Jackson, executive director of the ACLU of Florida, said: “This is not merely an administrative oversight; it is an intentional act of censorship that strikes at the heart of our democratic values and the very purpose of education.”
Widespread Backlash
Many tossed books covered race, feminism, LGBTQ+ issues, and religion.
Jackson said: “The fact that these books – sources of wisdom, diverse perspectives, and the narratives of marginalized communities – were discarded in the dead of night, without transparency, should outrage every Floridian and every American who values democracy and free thought.”
A New College Shakeup
Dumping these books is part of the dramatic revamp of New College, at the behest of Ron DeSantis.
Last January, DeSantis appointed six new members to the college’s board of trustees. Since then, the board fired the school’s president, replacing her with Richard Corcoran, who is now one of the highest-paid college presidents in Florida.
DEI Crackdown
DeSantis and his new board of trustees are targeting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives at New College.
For example, the board has canceled providing meals for Muslim students during Ramadan, their holy month of fasting.
Doubling Down
Rufo has doubled down on scrapping DEI policies and initiatives.
Rufo said: “[DEI programs] are a vehicle for taking left-wing orthodoxy from neo-Marxist intellectuals on the outside, injecting them into our bureaucracies in schools, and then using the power of the administration or the bureaucracy to manipulate human behavior to achieve left-wing ideological objectives.
Destined for the Dumpster
New College officials said the center’s books were free for students to take, but no one wanted them.
However, Benavides said she believes the boxes were always going straight to landfill. “The boxes had broken. So they couldn’t move the boxes, the books, into the dumpster where they were supposed to go, and they ended up on the side,” said Benavides.
Students Saved the Books
Benavides said she enlisted the help of other students to save the books.
She said the police and a librarian came to tell the students to stop taking the discarded books. After an hour, officials let the students take the center’s books. Benavides and her helpers saved almost the entire collection.
Librarian Let Go
After days of public outcry, Hausinger was ultimately held responsible for the disposal of the books and was fired.
In a letter, the university’s general counsel said: “[Hausinger] deleted or failed to maintain notes relating to the reasons or justification that each book was selected for disposal.”
Florida in Intellectual Trouble
This DeSantis-backed restructuring of New College has staff and students afraid for their academic future in Florida.
LeRoy Pernell is a law professor at Florida A&M Law who started off at New College’s law school. He worries that staff and students will leave Florida to pursue higher education. Pernell said: “What we are witnessing in Florida is an intellectual reign of terror. People are intellectually and physically scared. We are being named enemies of the state.”
