Report: Book Bans in Texas. One Year of SB 12 and SB 13 in School Libraries.

Background

In the first half of 2026, seventy-five volunteers with Texas Freedom to Read Project sent public information requests to more than 900 Texas school districts in which we asked for information about book challenges and removals during the 2025-2026 school year, about the existence and composition of school library advisory councils (provided for in Senate Bill 13), and about guidance provided to librarians and school employees regarding the implementation of SB12, SB13, and HB900. We asked not only for records involving formal challenges to books, but also records of internal or informal reviews and weeding logs. We asked for emails or messages to district staff discussing or mandating the restriction or removal of books, for citizen feedback on proposed purchase lists, and for information on artificial intelligence systems and prompts used to review books. 

We received usable responses from 538 districts, or approximately 45% of all school districts in Texas. From these responses, we compiled master lists of books removed and restricted in the state, classifying where possible the level (elementary, middle, high) from which each was removed or restricted, as well as the reason and the process for the removal or restriction. We also tabulated the number of districts with School Library Advisory Councils and tracked the actions of those councils, including their responses to formal book challenges. 

It's important to note that our final restricted and removed books total is a significant undercount. The number captures data from less than 50% of Texas school districts and excludes book removals and restrictions that didn't have explicit school district documentation citing Texas legislation or content concerns as the reason for removal. This number also doesn't include public library book restrictions and removals. 

One of the biggest hurdles we encountered gathering this data was how many school districts purposefully tried to hide or obscure records of book removals. In many instances, districts issued verbal directives to librarians to avoid creating paper trails & removed books without recording the real reason.

We spoke with dozens of librarians across the state who were pressured into subverting their own district policies and ordered to quietly clear dozens, sometimes hundreds, of books from their catalogs. Most of these librarians would only speak to us on the condition of anonymity. In many cases, district administrators explained to librarians that they were removing books to 'stay out of the news' and avoid the crosshairs of aggressive politicians and censorship activists. We believe many districts are hiding their actions because they know their communities would never support this kind of censorship.

 KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• During the 2025-2026 school year, Texas school districts removed more books than ever recorded, representing a four-hundred percent increase in book removals and restrictions over the previous school year.

• These book removals went far beyond books with “sexually explicit” content to include children’s books, books on art history and mythology, and many classic works of literature.

• The overwhelming majority of book removals and restrictions were not the result of formal challenges from parents, but instead due to internal audits or reviews instigated by school administrators, often after pressure from activists with little connection to the district.

• Where parental committees have reviewed challenged books, they have generally voted to return those books to school library shelves.

• While most districts' policies include a review of challenged materials by a committee that includes parents and community members, very few have elected to form a School Library Advisory Council (SLAC), and we are aware of only one school district that implemented a SLAC due to parent petition, in an effort by parents to protect their school libraries from censorship.  

CLICK TO READ THE FULL REPORT

HIGHLIGHTS:

Texas schools removed or restricted 7,861 books in 2025-2026, representing a 400% increase over PEN America’s documented book bans from the previous year. More books were removed or restricted in Texas last school year than were in the entire United States in 2024-2025. 

Books removals in Texas included hundreds of classic and acclaimed titles, including Pulitzer Prize winners, National Book Award winners, books by Nobel Prize winners, and dozens of books that have appeared on the Advanced Placement English Literature Exam. 

These removals have not been driven by parental demand. In fact, when parent-led committees (SLACs) have reviewed challenged books they have retained those books 78.2% of the time. Fewer than 3% of removals and restrictions last year resulted from formal challenges. Instead, the overwhelming majority were the result of internal reviews or audits by school administrators–often using artificial intelligence. 

The numbers don’t tell the full story, though. The communication records we received show that a climate of fear has developed regarding reading materials in schools that has spread beyond the library doors. In Boerne ISD, for example, a kindergarten teacher sent a message to the parents of her students stating that, due to Senate Bill 13, a planned holiday book exchange would have to be canceled. 

 In Carroll ISD, Pretty Perfect Kitty Corn by Shannon Hale was permanently removed from all elementary school libraries because, “The use of genitalia in the illustration is something we would never allow in a classroom...The climax of the story is about shame illustrated on the genital region of these characters.” And “The book skirts gender ideology.”

In Argyle ISD librarians were told to remove all books with the existence of LGBTQ characters from their elementary school libraries and to remove books about “the journey or the relationship” [of LGBTQ characters] from all libraries 7th grade and up. None of the current legislation requires this. 

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And in Red Oak ISD, an AP English teacher asked a district administrator for permission to teach the whole text of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. The administrator replied, “You are able to teach excerpts from Fahrenheit 451 but not the entire novel.” She advised him that there are violent moments in the novel, including suicides and a mechanical hound that “goes after one man and kills another.” The administrator told the teacher, “You will need to carefully choose the excerpts” in order to avoid those scenes, some of which include essential plot points of the novel. 

These examples are characteristic of the communications and listed reasons for removal we found in our public information requests. While some have claimed that districts are ignoring Senate Bills 12 and 13, we repeatedly found district employees erring on the side of caution–often to the detriment of the students in their charge. 

Erstwhile supporters of Senate Bill 12 and 13 are already asking for more laws to restrict books in the next legislative session, claiming that existing bills do not do enough to limit students’ access to literature. Our research shows the opposite: In just one year, these laws have had a massive impact on Texas schools, reducing students’ access to books and reshaping educators’ willingness to share literature with young readers. Click here to access our full report with more details and more data. 

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Acknowledgement

Texas Freedom to Read Project thanks the 75 volunteers who dedicated countless hours to assist with the data collection portion of this project. We could not have compiled this information without your support.

About Texas Freedom to Read Project 

Texas Freedom to Read Project is a parent-founded, parent-led 501c3 nonprofit organization. Texas Freedom to Read Project supports, connects, and mobilizes parent and community led initiatives fighting for student rights and against censorship and book bans in Texas. Learn more here.