(This is a guest post written by librarian, Kalyn Gensic. This post was originally written and shared by Kalyn on her personal Facebook page, and is shared with permission, here.)

It is three o’clock in the morning, and I can’t sleep because my mind is replaying the no good, horrible, very bad week I had at work. It wasn’t bad because of the students (they were funny and inquisitive and were happy to talk about all the books with me). It wasn’t my co-workers (Cooper has the best staff - bar none). It wasn’t my district (still proud to be part of AISD). It was because this week, a law made over the summer in the Texas Senate had real, tangible effects on my day-to-day job. My guess is most people don’t know about SB 13, but I think it is something Texans need to be aware of, so I’m going to tell you about it.

More than 60,000 students in North East ISD in San Antonio will walk into classrooms on Tuesday with NO BOOKS or with “library closed” signs blocking access to classroom libraries as a result of Senate Bill 13.

The 89th Session of the Texas Legislature was a tough one for those who care about the freedom to read. Texas Freedom to Read Project spent countless hours working alongside legislators, staffers, and incredible advocacy groups to stand up for students, libraries, public schools, and the fundamental right to access information. There were some important wins, but also some deeply frustrating losses.

One of the most disheartening aspects of this session was seeing how many bills, especially those impacting libraries and the freedom to read, were driven more by political theater and special interests than by the real needs of Texans. They were written to score points in a culture war, often at the expense of public schools and libraries. This is particularly frustrating when so many Texas families are facing real, urgent challenges.

Among the most concerning pieces of legislation to pass this year is Senate Bill 13, which imposes new onerous and impractical regulations on school libraries. We warned our community  about it during the session here and here. Unfortunately the bill takes effect September 1. 

Email your school board trustees, or sign up to speak at your next school board meeting and tell them:

Please adopt the Library Materials EFB Local policy update- that does NOT establish a school library advisory council (SLAC). 

Something no representative on either side of the political aisle seems to understand about Senate Bill 13 is that it’s not “House Bill 900 is not working” as the book banners like to claim. It’s that the 40 or so book banners who are driving their movement for the whole state refuse to take “no” for an answer.