(Texas Scorecard) – Legislation currently awaiting a hearing in the Texas House aims to increase parental involvement and state oversight in determining the appropriateness of library materials available to students in public schools.
House Bill 183 by State Rep. Jared Patterson (R-Frisco) seeks to formalize and strengthen the process by which parents can challenge and restrict access to certain books in public school libraries, especially those deemed sexually explicit or inappropriate for specific age groups.
The push for stricter oversight of school library content has gained momentum in Texas over the past several years, fueled by parent-led campaigns and legislative actions.
Passed in 2023, House Bill 900 (the READER Act) in 2023 mandated the exclusion of sexually explicit books from school libraries and required districts to adhere to new collection development standards.
However, a key provision of that legislation, which required vendors to rate their books before selling to school districts, is currently on hold in the courts.
Parent advocates have remained skeptical of the effectiveness of READER, criticizing the reconsideration process as burdensome and potentially discouraging for families seeking to remove inappropriate materials.
“Many school districts are deliberately strategizing to keep extremely harmful content on their library shelves and accessible to minors in their district,” said Bonnie Wallace, a conservative activist fighting for age-appropriate libraries for children. “I’m proud of Jared Patterson for bringing this bill forward. This is a common-sense solution to part of our battle.”
Key elements of HB 183 include:
- Online Parental Request Form: The State Board of Education (SBOE) must provide an online form for parents to request reviews of specific library materials they believe are inappropriate or sexually explicit.
- Timely Review and Public Listing: The SBOE is required to review challenged materials within three weeks, determine their appropriateness by grade level, and publicly list approved and rejected materials on its website.
- Agency Oversight: If the SBOE cannot reach a determination, the Texas Education Agency will review the material and make a binding decision.
- Access Restrictions: School districts and charter schools must restrict student access to materials under review or those rejected for their grade level.
Wallace says the bill still needs an enforcement mechanism, but that a provision could be added, as a committee substitute to the measure is currently being worked on. “This bill needs a penalty because some schools will ignore it if it doesn’t have a penalty, but I’m encouraged by this effort and pray for a hearing!”
According to Wallace, the committee substitute does include language allowing local residents to challenge books in addition to parents, which was originally left out. “That’s important because [the Texas Association of School Boards] has recommended school boards change their policies to prohibit taxpayers from challenging books,” said Wallace. “I’d say that’s taxation without representation since my tax dollars are paying for this inappropriate content.”
SBOE Member Tom Maynard (R-District 10) explained that the committee substitute for the bill will shift from a strict three-week review timeline to a cyclical review process, similar to the established cycle for instructional materials. “What would be best is if we pick a date or an approximate time where we can sort of wrap that process up, and we think it’s probably April,” Maynard said, describing an annual process culminating in a public list of reviewed books.
This schedule would allow schools time to respond before the next academic year.
Maynard emphasized that the SBOE will not review every book in school libraries, but will focus on the most problematic titles, primarily those flagged for sexually explicit content.
The board will also have discretion over how many books to review each cycle, preventing the process from being overwhelmed by mass nominations intended to slow it down. Drawing from experience with complex instructional material reviews, Maynard estimated the board could review at least 300 books per cycle and suggested that volunteers and possibly artificial intelligence could be used to support this work.
Maynard noted that Texas law already prohibits sexually explicit materials in schools; the issue is determining who is responsible for evaluating and rating these materials.
With book vendors uninterested in doing so, “it makes sense” to Maynard that the SBOE would take on the responsibility.
He also highlighted the irony that some books allowed in schools are banned in Texas prisons: “It’s not like we have to reinvent the wheel, because the Texas Department of Criminal Justice already does this… a lot of these books that we allow in middle schools are not allowed in the prisons.”
Maynard also addressed concerns about so-called “book banning,” explaining, “No one’s saying we’re banning books … it’s just not appropriate for a school library. If someone wants to have that book, they can go buy them.”
The bill is designed to create disincentives for vendors and school districts to purchase or supply books likely to be flagged as explicit, aligning purchasing behavior with the law’s intent.
HB 183 is currently awaiting a hearing before the House Public Education Committee, chaired by State Rep. Brad Buckley (R-Salado). If passed, the bill would take effect on September 1, 2025, with the parental request system to be operational by January 1, 2026.
Maynard expressed optimism that if passed, the SBOE could begin rulemaking to set up book review procedures this summer.