New College of Florida tosses hundreds of library books, empties gender diversity library

Hundreds of New College of Florida library books, including many on LGBTQ+ topics and religious studies, are headed to a landfill.

A dumpster in the parking lot of Jane Bancroft Cook Library on the campus of New College overflowed with books and collections from the now-defunct Gender and Diversity Center on Tuesday afternoon. Video captured in the afternoon showed a vehicle driving away with the books before students were notified. In the past, students were given an opportunity to purchase books that were leaving the college’s library collection.

Some discarded books included “Nine and Counting: The Women of the Senate”, “The War of the Worlds” and “When I Knew” — which is a collection of stories from LGBTQ+ people recounting when they knew they were gay.

New College spokesperson Nathan March acknowledged the Herald-Tribune’s request for comment but had not provided the college’s response as of 2 p.m.

Amy Reid, the faculty chair and representative on the board of trustees, said when you throw away books, you also throw away democracy.

“They take the trees and people had a service to recognize the loss of those trees,” she said. “I want to do that for books, because books are what matter.”

Natalia Benavites, a 21-year-old fourth-year student at New College, said books in the dumpster carried the college’s seal as well as a “discard” sticker on the spine.

When she asked officials whether they could donate the books, she was told that under state statute the college can’t donate books purchased with state funds.

The college also discarded books from the Gender and Diversity Center, which was located across campus. The GDC books were purchased individually and not with state funds, she said. Several students and activists with the SEE Alliance worked Thursday afternoon to save the GDC materials before they could be thrown away.

This is a developing story, check back for updates.

Follow Herald-Tribune Education Reporter Steven Walker on Twitter at @swalker_7. He can be reached at sbwalker@gannett.com.