By Isaiah Mosley, TFN Political Intern
On Monday, May 26, while the House debated Senate Bill 13, Texas Freedom Network joined with students, educators, parents, bookstore owners, and community advocates for a Read-In. It was an impactful statement — demonstrators from all demographics and every corner of the state, with their banned books in hand, lined the Capitol main staircase as lawmakers funneled into the chamber.
Volunteers sat on the Capitol stairs, quietly reading and sending a powerful message as a backdrop to another conservative ploy to push minority and dissenting voices to the periphery.
“[Legislators] should be serving Texans, and this is not what Texans want,” said TFN Political Director Rocío Fierro-Pérez. “What Texans want is the freedom to read.”
Ultimately, the Read-In was a profound demonstration of solidarity, unity, and inclusivity. It aimed to exhibit the power that inclusivity brings to underrepresented communities in our society, those who have been historically overlooked and ignored. The message to lawmakers was clear: book bans and government control over what is and isn’t acceptable to read is not the marker of a free society.
Though the House ultimately passed SB 13, the Read-In shined a spotlight on the strength, persistence, and resistance of progressive Texans who will continue to show up for our most vulnerable communities.
“People are tired… and yet we still see this wave of people coming out today,” said TFN Senior Communications and Media Strategist Emily Witt. “I think that really says something: that Texans are tough, that we have hope, that we’re going to keep fighting.”
More about SB 13
SB 13 is situated to reshape the public school library system as we know it.
At the core of SB 13 is the statutory requirement for each school district to create a Local School Library Advisory Council, with a majority of its members being parents. Rather than allowing competent librarians to exercise their professional judgement, final decisions on library content would lie with these councils. There is no provision to prevent these parent-led councils from arbitrarily banning books and authors that they do not like or agree with.
The bill also requires that parents be granted access to their children’s library records and be able to restrict access to specific books. Schools would be required to honor these individual prohibitions and ensure compliance with parental preferences. The bill as it is currently written has no accountability measures, no transparency requirements, and no mechanism for student involvement.
Additionally, the legislation introduces content-based restrictions by banning materials deemed “harmful,” “indecent,” or “profane”—which are subject to interpretation and likely to invite conflated arguments or overcompliance.
