Five dictionaries are on a list of more than 1,600 books removed from school library shelves in the Escambia County district in December pending a deeper investigation into their compatibility with HB 1069.

Florida’s education commissioner says the law, brought into effect by Governor Ron DeSantis last year, ensures students will be taught “core subjects, rather than woke gender ideology or inappropriate topics”.

Escambia County’s school board is already facing a lawsuit from PEN America, Penguin Random House, authors and parents over an earlier wave of book bans.

A judge this week ruled that the plantiffs have standing to bring a case under the First Amendment’s freedom of speech protections.