State Sen. Angela Paxton’s SB 13 was referred to the Senate Education K-16 Committee earlier this month. The bill aims to strengthen previous legislation combatting inappropriate materials in school libraries. It would allow parents to access a record of books checked out by their child and restrict the books their child can check out from the library. It also further defines terms used in related bills.
Comments on Twitter in response to the announcement ranged from gratitude to confusion since a similar bill was passed during the last session to address this issue. According to Sen. Paxton, her bill’s intention is to give more “teeth” to the existing law.
The new bill would require school board trustees to create councils of parents and other non-school district employees to oversee the procurement of library materials and ensure that materials meet agreed-upon standards. It also requires that before new materials are added to the library, the titles must be posted publicly for the community to view and that they are allowed to contest materials during the review process.
An additional twenty republican senators sponsored this bill, and AG Paxton and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have both expressed a need for further regulations on library materials.
Earlier this month, in Allen, Texas, parents and other concerned citizens attended a school board meeting to bring attention to the inappropriate materials in the library. Extremely graphic material was brought to the board’s attention, proving that this issue needs to be addressed.
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