The Texas Legislature is once again prioritizing politics over the well-being of our students. Senate Bill 13 (SB 13), a deeply troubling proposal that restricts access to library materials in public schools, has already passed the Senate and is scheduled for a hearing in the House Public Education Committee on Tuesday, May 6, 2025.
Despite conservative messaging claiming otherwise, SB 13 is not about protecting students, it’s about censorship and control, and it’s a back-door effort to ban books. We’ve been here before, folks. This is the latest in a long line of bills targeting books by and about LGBTQIA+ people, people of color, and other underrepresented communities.
SB 13 would overhaul the way public school libraries select and review materials. Here’s how:
- Censorship Through Vendor Ratings: The bill bans any materials rated as “sexually explicit” by book vendors, a vague and subjective standard. This echoes parts of House Bill 900 from 2023, which was struck down in court. That bill forced private individuals and corporations (book vendors) into compliance with “a web of unconstitutionally vague requirements” in violation of the First Amendment.
- Parent-Dominated “Library Advisory Councils”: SB 13 requires each school district to form a “Library Advisory Council, primarily made up of parents, that can influence what materials are purchased, stay, or go. This opens the door to discriminatory extremists making decisions about what books Texas public school students can access, like the Katy parent who asked her district to remove a children’s biography of Michelle Obama on the grounds that it promoted “reverse racism.”
- School Board Control, Not Librarian Expertise: Decisions about library content would rest not with trained librarians or educators, but with politically motivated school boards, many of which are increasingly under pressure from far-right agendas or being outright taken over by far-right board members with funding from corporate and extremist PACs.
- More Book Challenges Disproportionately Targeting LGBTQIA+ Stories: Parents would not only be allowed to restrict their own child’s access to certain materials and receive notification of each book they check out or otherwise use outside of the library, but they would also be able to challenge books available to ANY child. This opens the floodgates for frivolous and hateful challenges targeting inclusive and affirming books.
Texas has been leading the country in banning books, and books about LGBTQIA+ people and Black and brown people are the primary targets. From a graphic novel exploring queer identity to a picture book about a little boy who dresses as a mermaid in a pride parade, these books are being labeled as inappropriate and “explicit” largely because they reflect identities and experiences outside the white, heterosexual, cisgender experience.
SB 13 would actively harm students, particularly those who are already most vulnerable to bullying, isolation, and erasure. Books can be a lifeline for children who might feel alone in their experiences and working through their identity or other issues. At the Texas Freedom Network, we believe public schools should be places of inclusion, curiosity, safety, and critical thinking, not battlegrounds for culture war politics.
Students deserve:
- Access to books that reflect who they are.
- Exposure to diverse perspectives and real-world ideas.
- The support of qualified educators and librarians, not censorship from politically driven school boards.
And students are not the only ones who would be hurt by SB 13. Librarians are already being threatened with criminal charges by state officials, including Governor Greg Abbott, for giving children access to books that a loud few conservatives consider to be “sexually explicit content.” These threats, and measures like SB 13, not only belittle the competence and professionalism of trained librarians but have a chilling effect on their willingness and ability to select materials that reflect the diversity of their student population.
SB 13 is an attack on students, librarians, and the idea of a free and inclusive public education. Texas Freedom Network will continue to speak truth to power, elevate our community’s voices, and organize for a future where every student can see themselves in the books on their school’s shelves. Together, we can push back against censorship and make sure Texas classrooms stay free, open, and full of possibility. Contact your legislators today to urge them to vote NO on SB 13, and if possible, join us at the hearing on Tuesday, May 6, 2025.
