Last year, a new Florida state law, HB 1467, went into effect. Under this law, Florida school districts must be transparent in the selection of instructional materials, including library and reading materials. In addition, all books in school media centers must be reviewed and approved by a state-certified media specialist before they’re distributed to students.
At first, most people believed this law applied only to schoolwide libraries and media centers. But in January 2023, new guidance from the Florida Department of Education stated that teachers’ classroom collections fall under the umbrella, too.
With thousands of books to audit, many teachers simply don’t have the time to individually vet each title, which is why we’ve seen news stories about teachers packing away their classroom libraries. Rather than risk getting caught with a book that may violate the law, teachers are choosing to stop using their libraries altogether, leaving students with little to no independent reading choices.
If you're a Florida teacher, you might be wondering how you're supposed to build a classroom library that's both enriching and compliant with the new state law. To help you save time searching, we've created these special grade-level Classroom Library Packs specifically for Florida's students. Each Library Pack includes recommended books as outlined in the Florida B.E.S.T. Standards for English language arts.
Please note that while these titles may appear on the B.E.S.T. Standards list, they may not be appropriate for every student. Be sure to check with your district's individual policies regarding approved books before adding them to your library!
4th Grade Florida B.E.S.T. Classroom Library Pack
This pack includes: Esperanza Rising, Johnny Tremain, Little House on the Prairie, The Declaration of Independence and Other Documents, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Where the Red Fern Grows, On the Wings of Heroes, Promises to Keep, Tales from the Odyssey, Part 1, and Toliver’s Secret.
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5th Grade Florida B.E.S.T. Classroom Library Pack
This pack includes: Anne of Green Gables, Call It Courage, The City of Ember, Farewell to Manzanar, From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Hidden Figures, Island of the Blue Dolphins, The Shakespeare Stealer, The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963, and I Am Malala.
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6th Grade Florida B.E.S.T. Classroom Library Pack
This pack includes: A Long Walk to Water, Black Ships Before Troy, Hatchet, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Little Women, Miracles on Maple Hill, Adventures of Pinocchio, The Devil’s Arithmetic, The Hiding Place, and Treasure Island.
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7th Grade Florida B.E.S.T. Classroom Library Pack
This pack includes: Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Great American Poems, George vs. George: The American Revolution As Seen from Both Sides, Old Yeller, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, The Prince and the Pauper, The Red Umbrella, and The Yearling.
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8th Grade Florida B.E.S.T. Classroom Library Pack
This pack includes: The Best of Poe, Classic American Short Stories, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I Will Always Write Back, Long Walk to Freedom, Team Moon, The Call of the Wild, The Hobbit, and Trapped.
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9th Grade Florida B.E.S.T. Classroom Library Pack
This pack includes: A Modest Proposal and Other Stories, A White Heron and Other Stories, The Waste Land, Prufrock, and Other Poems, Animal Farm, Antigone, Beowulf, Finding Manana, Romeo and Juliet, The Odyssey, and Unbroken.
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10th Grade Florida B.E.S.T. Classroom Library Pack
This pack includes: Essential American Documents and Speeches - Volume 1, A Raisin in the Sun, Cry, the Beloved Country, Lord of the Flies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Of Mice and Men, The Crucible, The Piano Lesson, The Red Badge of Courage, and The Souls of Black Folk.
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11th Grade Florida B.E.S.T. Classroom Library Pack
This pack includes: Transcendentalism: Essential Essays of Emerson and Thoreau, Songs of Innocence and Experience, Billy Budd, The Canterbury Tales, The Inferno, Jane Eyre, Julius Caesar, Night, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, and The Surrender Tree.
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12th Grade Florida B.E.S.T. Classroom Library Pack
This pack includes: Crime and Punishment, Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, Hamlet, Heart of Darkness, King Lear, Longitude, Pride and Prejudice, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Twelve Caesars, and Utopia.
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ELA Resources for the Florida B.E.S.T. Standards
Help Florida’s students succeed in the classroom and beyond with standards-aligned English language arts materials. Visit our Florida B.E.S.T. Portal to find even more recommended resources!