This narrative is mostly true
The school library had a section of empty bookshelves due to them being temporary removed as they undergo review by district media specialists. A video later released by the Duval County Public School District revealed that most shelves in the library did have books on them. The video filmed by substitute teacher Brian Covey however only showed the empty shelves.
The district explained why the shelves were empty in a blog post saying, "We did direct teachers to temporarily reduce their classroom library collections to titles that were previously approved while waiting for media specialists to curate a more expansive list of approved titles."
An article from ABC News supports the given article from Fox News. The article explains how over 1 million books in the Duval school district are subject to review because of the state laws such as the "Stop WOKE" act which was signed in April 2022. These Florida state laws impact educational materials dealing with race, sexual orientation, and gender.
Section 6 of the "Stop WOKE" act describes the process for school districts to review books reading, "Each district school board is responsible for the content of all materials used in a classroom or otherwise made available to students. Each district school board shall adopt rules, and each district school superintendent shall implement procedures, that: (b) Provide a process for public review of, public comment on, and the adoption of instructional materials ... ."
As part of the bill it is the school district's responsibility for implementing the law and conducting a review on its educational materials. The Duval school district's review of books by media specialists aligns with their directions under this law.
