Write a Letter to the Editor to Stop HB 3225
Politicians take notice when people take the time to speak up about important community issues like book bans. HB 3225 would lead to more book bans across Texas.
That's why we need people like you to submit letters to the editors of your local papers to help us get the word out about the harms of HB 3225 (and its companion bill SB 2101). We made it easy with this tool!
Here are some prompts to help you get started!
Adults (community members and parents)
- Share a story of how you use your public library and how this bill would impact your ability to access materials. (Will your First Amendment rights be violated?)
- Think back to when you were a minor. What materials and services would have been restricted under this bill?
- What books are you worried about your children losing access to?
- As a parent, how does your local library help your child to learn and grow as an individual?
- If you homeschool your child, how will this impact your ability to teach your child about various topics?
- As an adult, will you have to show your ID to access the general collection?
- How can you exercise your parental right to determine what information your child has access to if the default is to prevent them from accessing certain information?
Teens (13-17 years old)
- Courts have determined that students have First Amendment rights. How will this bill impact your First Amendment rights?
- How will you prepare for AP exams if you cannot access books such as The Great Gatsby, The Color Purple, or Beloved?
- How will you access books on mature topics like sexual assault, domestic violence, addiction, juvenile justice system, school violence, gun rights, health care for women, discrimination, and true crime shelved in the young adult nonfiction section?
- Will you be able to access information on biology and health? How will this impact your learning on these topics?
- How will this impact access to artwork for your art class? (Will you be banned from viewing classic art, such as Michelangelo's David?)
- What if you do not have a certified librarian in your school district? How will this bill make it harder to learn about new topics?
- Describe your experience with your local public library and the various resources that it provides for you as a student.
- If you are a pregnant teen, how will you access books and information on pregnancy? Despite having the ability to get pregnant, will you be prevented from learning about the pregnancy process?
- What if you do not have a supportive home environment? Should you still have to ask for parental permission to access certain books?
- Will you be limited to the same books and materials as elementary readers?
Librarians and Library Staff
- What challenges would you face in implementing this bill? (Will you have to check IDs at the door? Will you have to make the library adult-only? Will you be forced to self-censor to protect your job? What if a minor does not have an ID? Will you be forced to lock up certain books or segregate specific titles? What if a book is accidentally shelved in the wrong area?)
- If you are part of a small or rural library, how will you successfully implement this bill?
- How will your library fund this additional burden of going through library materials to ensure compliance with this bill?
- Does your library already have policies for unattended minors that keep children safe in your library?
- How will this impact your daily responsibilities? (Will you have to create new collection development standards? Will library staff have to spend extra time reviewing their existing teen collection? How will you carry out the yearly reviews conducted under this bill?)
- Will your library have to cut hours, staff, or resources in order to pay for the implementation of this bill?
- Will your library need to increase its liability insurance to protect you and other staff members from civil and criminal penalties?
- How will this impact access to online library collections and existing partnerships with databases?
- How will this impact funding for your library if it is found to have "sexually explicit" materials?
Write a Letter to the Editor to Stop HB 3225
Politicians take notice when people take the time to speak up about important community issues like book bans. HB 3225 would lead to more book bans across Texas.
That's why we need people like you to submit letters to the editors of your local papers to help us get the word out about the harms of HB 3225 (and its companion bill SB 2101). We made it easy with this tool!
Here are some prompts to help you get started!
Adults (community members and parents)
- Share a story of how you use your public library and how this bill would impact your ability to access materials. (Will your First Amendment rights be violated?)
- Think back to when you were a minor. What materials and services would have been restricted under this bill?
- What books are you worried about your children losing access to?
- As a parent, how does your local library help your child to learn and grow as an individual?
- If you homeschool your child, how will this impact your ability to teach your child about various topics?
- As an adult, will you have to show your ID to access the general collection?
- How can you exercise your parental right to determine what information your child has access to if the default is to prevent them from accessing certain information?
Teens (13-17 years old)
- Courts have determined that students have First Amendment rights. How will this bill impact your First Amendment rights?
- How will you prepare for AP exams if you cannot access books such as The Great Gatsby, The Color Purple, or Beloved?
- How will you access books on mature topics like sexual assault, domestic violence, addiction, juvenile justice system, school violence, gun rights, health care for women, discrimination, and true crime shelved in the young adult nonfiction section?
- Will you be able to access information on biology and health? How will this impact your learning on these topics?
- How will this impact access to artwork for your art class? (Will you be banned from viewing classic art, such as Michelangelo's David?)
- What if you do not have a certified librarian in your school district? How will this bill make it harder to learn about new topics?
- Describe your experience with your local public library and the various resources that it provides for you as a student.
- If you are a pregnant teen, how will you access books and information on pregnancy? Despite having the ability to get pregnant, will you be prevented from learning about the pregnancy process?
- What if you do not have a supportive home environment? Should you still have to ask for parental permission to access certain books?
- Will you be limited to the same books and materials as elementary readers?
Librarians and Library Staff
- What challenges would you face in implementing this bill? (Will you have to check IDs at the door? Will you have to make the library adult-only? Will you be forced to self-censor to protect your job? What if a minor does not have an ID? Will you be forced to lock up certain books or segregate specific titles? What if a book is accidentally shelved in the wrong area?)
- If you are part of a small or rural library, how will you successfully implement this bill?
- How will your library fund this additional burden of going through library materials to ensure compliance with this bill?
- Does your library already have policies for unattended minors that keep children safe in your library?
- How will this impact your daily responsibilities? (Will you have to create new collection development standards? Will library staff have to spend extra time reviewing their existing teen collection? How will you carry out the yearly reviews conducted under this bill?)
- Will your library have to cut hours, staff, or resources in order to pay for the implementation of this bill?
- Will your library need to increase its liability insurance to protect you and other staff members from civil and criminal penalties?
- How will this impact access to online library collections and existing partnerships with databases?
- How will this impact funding for your library if it is found to have "sexually explicit" materials?