TAMPA - Hillsborough County Public Schools is disputing a new national report that claims the district has pulled more books from school libraries than any other in Florida, saying the true number of removed titles is far lower.

The backstory:

The nonprofit PEN America, which advocates for free expression, released its latest Index of School Book Bans for the 2024–2025 school year. It documents more than 6,700 book removals nationwide, with Florida leading the country. Hillsborough County ranked second in the U.S., with 608 titles reportedly removed.

But Hillsborough officials argue that figure doesn’t accurately reflect what’s happened in the district.

According to district spokesperson Tanya Arja, 59 books have been formally removed from library collections.

The higher number, s

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