Other Causes for Concern in the 2025 Texas Legislative Session
Beyond bills that attempt to criminalize the profession of librarianship and take away funding from public schools, Texas representatives have filed bills that would attack booksellers and establish subjective criteria for approving or restricting instructional materials in public schools.
Beyond bills that attempt to criminalize the profession of librarianship and take away funding from public schools, Texas representatives have filed bills that would attack booksellers and establish subjective criteria for approving or restricting instructional materials in public schools.
One of these bills, SB88 is an attack on the culture of reading because it would criminalize booksellers, online retailers, and possibly libraries for the “sale, distribution, or display of harmful material to a minor.” This legislation removes established language that defines “harmful material,” and in doing so, it eliminates language that requires a book to be judged as a whole rather than as a sum of its parts.
Bills HB1358 and SB451 are also concerning because they would allow the State Board of Education (SBOE) to create a list of rejected materials for instructional materials within public schools that contain obscene or harmful content.
Reach out to your legislators to take action to protect the freedom to read.
Download our complete report to learn more about the 2025 Texas legislative session and the legislative bills attacking libraries.