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U.S. Senators Patty Murray of Washington and Susan Collins of Maine expressed outrage over reports that New College of Florida discarded hundreds of books, including a book about their leadership in the Senate.
The college reportedly disposed of library books that discussed LGBTQ+ topics and religious studies without offering them for purchase to students or other academic institutions.
Murray and Collins helped write the book, Nine and Counting: the Women of the Senate, alleged to have been discarded by the college.
“We were stunned to discover that the state of Florida chose to discard Nine and Counting from its collection of books at New College — this is a book we penned together with our Senate colleagues to tell our stories as women senators, at a time when there were far fewer of us, to help inspire the next generation of women to pursue public service,” said Murray and Collins in a statement Wednesday.”
Murray and Collins — both senior members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee — said disposing of books like Nine and Counting goes against the principles of fostering open dialogue and civility.
“We stand against the senseless banning of books. Such actions go against our constitutional values and the idea that our universities should be places where the freedom of speech is allowed to flourish and perspectives of all kinds are heard.”