News & Updates

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. 

After several years of Montgomery County Memorial Public Library and librarians being subjected to slander, doxing and harassment by politicians and activists calling for the restriction and removal of diverse and inclusive books- especially age relevant children's and young adult books that center LGBTQ+ and BIPOC perspectives- the County Commissioners voted to appoint one of their own- the elected County Judge Mark Keough- as the director of the public library system. Judge Keough proceeded to immediately terminate the employment of Montgomery County's library director- Rhea Young. 

Yesterday, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick announced 25 of his top priorities for the current legislative session. At least four out of the 25 bills will directly impact the freedom to read in Texas. 

On January 28, 2025 Texas Freedom to Read Project, along with a broad coalition of local, state and national partners and allies issued a joint statement affirming our shared commitment to fight for the freedom to read in our state during the 89th legislative session, and beyond.