The Texas Freedom to Read Project (TXFTRP) is expressing deep concern after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review Little v. Llano County, allowing the Fifth Circuit’s ruling to stand, a decision that significantly weakens First Amendment protections for public-library patrons across America, but especially across Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

The Fifth Circuit held that patrons no longer have the constitutional right to receive information and ideas in the form of library books and the concurring opinion went as far as to embrace the unfounded concept that libraries’ decisions about which books to remove are “government speech.”  TXFTRP warns that this logic opens the door for local officials to purge books based on ideology rather than legitimate collection-development practices and turn public libraires into government propaganda centers. 

“This decision effectively tells government officials they can remove books simply because they don’t like the ideas in them,” said Laney Hawes, co-founder of TXFTRP. “That is the opposite of what public libraries are meant to be.”  

Contrary to claims that the case centered on “sexually explicit” materials, the 17 books removed from Llano County libraries included titles about racism, LGBTQ+ identity, civil rights, and American history, alongside several humorous children’s books. None were obscene.

“When you look at the actual list of books, it’s clear, this isn’t about protecting kids, it’s about controlling the flow of ideas.”said Frank Strong, co-founder. “It is about removing viewpoints some officials find uncomfortable.”

The dissenting judges in the Fifth Circuit underscored this point, warning that the majority’s ruling overturns decades of First Amendment precedent and ignores the political motivations behind the book removals.

“If this ruling stands unchallenged, any group with enough influence can pressure officials to pull books they disagree with,” said Anne Russey, co-founder. “That threatens the intellectual freedom of everyone in America and could be the end of libraries as we know them.”

 TXFTRP is calling on communities nationwide to stay engaged and defend their libraries. “We need more Americans willing to show up, join library boards, run for school board, attend council meetings,” Hawes added. “The freedom to read and the future of American libraries depends on ordinary people refusing to let censorship become the norm.”

You can read TXFTRP’s full statement here.