News & Updates

The Texas House Committee on Public Education will consider SB 13 on Tuesday, May 6 at 8am. We are running out of time to stop this bill- that threatens to destroy Texas public school libraries- from becoming law. If you are a Texas parent, retired or current school librarian, or supporter of public school libraries of any kind, and you have been saving yourself to testify on ONE bill this session- please join the parents behind Texas Freedom to Read Project, in Austin, on Tuesday and speak up against SB 13.

Senate Bill 2101, will be heard in the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee at 9am on Monday, April 28, 2025. Like its identical companion bill, House Bill 3225, Senate Bill 2101 is what Texas Freedom to Read Project cofounder, Frank Strong, describes as "a screaming red alarm for people who care about books, about the freedom to read, or about libraries."

The 89th Texas Legislative Session is in full swing. We're seeing some movement on several bills that would have significant negative impacts on public school and municipal libraries, booksellers, librarians and educators. Texans continue to face unprecedented threats to our freedom to read, but we are also seeing strong opposition to lots of the bad bills being debated and considered. We have no idea what bills will make it over the finish line and become law, but we know we are proud of the response we have seen our fellow Texans raise so far. Let's look at some of the bills we are tracking, and identify some steps you can take today to continue fighting against book bans and censorship in Texas, today! 

We have unlocked a new level of dystopian, book-banning, and censorship hell in Texas. Students in Lamar Consolidated ISD, a rapidly growing, mid-size public school district located west of Houston, can no longer learn about the state of Virginia on their online research database, Pebble Go Next. In response to a public records request filed by Texas Freedom to Read Project, LCISD acknowledged that "Virginia" has been removed from Pebble Go Next, due to the lesson violating the school board's local library policy- EFB Local- for "frontal nudity." 

(Update as of May 5, 2025)- HB 3225 has been put on the calendar to be heard by the full House on Thursday, May 8. Contact your local rep now and ask them to "vote no on HB 3225."

(Update as of April 25, 2025)- the identical Senate Companion Bill 2101 for HB 3225, is scheduled for a committee hearing in Austin on Monday, April 28, 2025 at 9am. Info and calls to action can be found here. 

By Frank Strong- originally published on Frank's Substack: Anger & Clarity. 

House Bill 3225 will be heard in the Texas House of Representatives State Affairs Committee at 8:00 a.m next Monday, April 14. This is a screaming red alarm for people who care about books, about the freedom to read, or about libraries.

In case you missed it, Texas bills like Mayes Middleton's SB412 and Jared Patterson's HB267 proposing to eliminate the affirmative defense for education, scientific and governmental reasons aren't actually going to do a whole lot to protect children because they maintain the exception that protects an adult married to a child to give that child spouse "obscene or otherwise harmful" material (ie pornography).

Last week, the Texas Senate K-16 Education Committee voted 10-1 (Senator José Menéndez was the lone dissenting vote) to send SB13 to the full Senate for a vote. 

Senate Bill 13- which is Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick's priority bill to "guard against inappropriate books in public schools" is listed on the Regular Order of Business and likely to be taken up for a vote by the full Texas senate very soon.

Act now, before it's too late. 

The Texas Senate K-16 Education Committee will hold a committee meeting and public hearing on a number of proposed senate bills on Thursday, February 27.

The meeting is scheduled to start around 10am, and may last all day. Members of the public are invited to provide testimony on the bills listed on the hearing notice- including Senate Bill 13- which is Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick's priority bill to "guard against inappropriate books in public schools."

So now is the time to make plans to travel to Austin, and/or start emailing your elected representatives and committee members.

{Originally published by Frank Strong on his Substack: Anger & Clarity} On Wednesday, Texas State Senator Angela Paxton filed SB13, a bill that was listed as one of Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick’s legislative priorities for this session with the purpose of “guarding against inappropriate books in public schools.”

The full text of the bill is available here. Every Republican member of the Senate is listed as co-author.

{Guest post by Leila Green Little} According to documents obtained from a public records request, the State of Texas has spent $179,897.54 on its defense so far in BookPeople, Inc., et al., v. Martha Wong, et al. This price tag results from over 1,600 hours of labor for the Office of the Attorney General’s office.

And this is just the beginning—this cost will surely increase as the case goes to trial. Should the trend continue and the State of Texas eventually lose in the terminal stage of this lawsuit (as they most likely will), it will be responsible for paying the plaintiffs’ legal fees.