New College of Florida's Jane Bancroft Cook Library Photo credit: Enunnally55 via Wikimedia Commons

On August 13, a New College of Florida student posted images to social media showing a dumpster full of books situated outside the campus library. Natalia Benavides, a fourth-year student at the Sarasota school, told the Associated Press (AP) that she originally saw boxes of discarded books outside the student-run Gender and Diversity Center (GDC) and discovered that the books were then moved near the dumpster for presumed disposal. As the story and images went viral, New College issued a statement that the library’s weeding project was separate from the removal of items from the GDC, and that the center was being “repurposed.”

Florida House Bill 999, approved by Gov. Rick DeSantis in May 2023, bans “any programs or campus activities that…advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, or promote or engage in political or social activism.” Following the ruling, New College trustees—many of whom were appointed DeSantis—voted to eliminate the Gender Studies program. A few days prior to Benavides’s discovery of the discarded books, she heard students report seeing furnishings being removed from the GDC space, and that chalkboard walls once dedicated to student expression were to be painted over in “New College blue.” Chris Rufo, one of the newly appointed college trustees, posted to X that “we abolished the gender studies program. Now we’re throwing out the trash,” reported Inside Higher Ed.

The visuals of the story conflated the two separate disposals: the library’s dumpster of weeded materials and the GDC’s book collection. The latter consisted of donations from students and the greater community and did not hold any items belonging to the New College library. “Primarily what was in the dumpster were library books—they were stamped with ‘discard’, and they were bound so that you knew they were from the library.… They seemed to be of every topic under the sun: art history books, books on aesthetics, psychology books,” Benavides told the AP. The titles removed from the GDC included books on LGBTQIA+ topics, social justice work, and religious studies.

Benavides called a local nonprofit, the Social Equity Through Education (SEE) Alliance, for assistance in recovering and removing some of the disposed materials; campus law enforcement did not allow the removal of the books, though images show some of the GDC titles being perused and collected by presumed students. “We made it clear to [law enforcement] that there were educational nonprofits and shelters ready and on standby to collect every single one of those books,” SEE Alliance representative Zander Moricz told local News Channel 8. The Alliance plans to open a library featuring the former GDC books.

New College President Richard Corcoran released a campus statement on August 19 in which he wrote: “much of the [news] coverage has been sensationalized, catering to the narratives of our critics…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."

The then–Dean of the Jane Bancroft Cook Library at New College, Shannon Hausinger, was initially placed on leave following the story breaking; on August 30 she received a termination letter from David Brickhouse, vice president of legal affairs and human resources, for “tossing out what [Hausinger] described as ‘moldy and water-damaged books,’ which are public property, without consulting college administrators” according to local news.

While Hausinger reported that she made records documenting each book and the reason for its disposal, the termination letter stated that those records were not made available and thus Hausinger was in violation of state law. “Regardless of your view on the value of the books selected for disposal, this lack of collaboration with faculty and College stakeholders demonstrates a profound and unacceptable error in judgment that does not meet the College’s expectations for an experienced library dean,” wrote Brickhouse, who was hired for his newly created position after DeSantis reshaped the board of trustees.

Florida statute 273.05, relating to surplus of state-owned property, includes language stating an appointed review board should “examine and make recommendations on approval or disapproval of classification of property as surplus.” However, a recent update to the story stated, “documents from Hausinger's lawyer, obtained from New College in a public records request, say that Hausinger was continuing a process that had been started by her predecessor of removing books that no longer aligned with the college's mission or hadn't been checked out in years.” In email from Hausinger to New College’s legal counsel office, the library dean requests advice on how to handle the deselected items, which she noted “have been thrown out in the past.” Counsel responded, writing that it was likely “OK” to discard or recycle the weeded items, but that a complete de-selection policy should be developed and a formal custodian for public property at New College be identified to best proceed.

“The sight of a dumpster overflowing with books is deeply concerning,” Allison Grubbs, vice president of the Florida Library Association, told LJ. “This action not only damages the library’s reputation, but also negatively impacts relationships with both patrons and staff. Perhaps this is an opportunity for all libraries to review our deselection policies and processes to ensure that they are transparent, ethical, and respectful of the materials in our collections.” Benavides echoed the need for clear disclosure: “It’s vital to have very good communication between administration and the student body, and we have not had that communication here,” she said.

The Florida office of the ACLU issued its own statement, condemning censorship via book disposal. The office has not responded to LJ’s inquiry about revising the statement with the knowledge that the library weeding project and the disposal of GDC books came through separate mechanisms.

Despite its previous reputation as a politically progressive liberal arts campus in the state, DeSantis’s appointees to the New College of Florida’s Board of Trustees have made other divisive changes, denying tenure to well-established faculty and the termination of openly identifying LGBTQIA+ staff, including librarian Helene Gold. An organization called Save New College is currently operating informational and fundraising campaigns to “reject DeSantis’s hostile takeover of New College.”