Texas Parents Hear Most Districts Never Touched the Library Law
Your kid walks past that shelf. In most districts, the board never looked.
Summary
- On Oct. 11, 2026, KERA reported a Texas Senate Education Committee hearing on Senate Bill 13, which gave school boards final say on library books and let districts form parent advisory councils.
- Sen. Brent Hagenbuch said explicit books remain. He cited activist Bonnie Wallace, who told Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick that about 20 percent of districts removed books and 80 percent did nothing. That split is Wallace's figure, not a state audit.
- Chair Sen. Donna Campbell asked why smut was still in libraries if parents have control, and said local control fails when it becomes what she called loco control.
- Laney Hawes of the Texas Freedom to Read Project told the hearing that books such as Hatchet have been removed and that the state has no official list of correct books. She said local districts and parents should decide.
Commentary
Parents already won the right to have the school board, not the librarian, decide what sits on a school shelf. On Wednesday, senators heard that a lot of boards never used it.
The 80 percent figure is Bonnie Wallace's number, not a state audit. Sen. Donna Campbell still asked the right question. If parents have the power, why is smut still in the room with the children.
Comments
The law already says the board decides. If 80 percent did nothing, that is the failure.
I do not need a speech about censorship. I need my board to open the explicit book.
A kids' novel getting pulled is a side argument. Explicit books still on the shelf are the problem.
Wallace's 20 and 80 is her count. The smut still sitting there does not wait for a perfect audit.
Librarians used to pick. Parents asked for a turn. Boards that skipped the turn left the kids with the shelf.
A shelf is a room my kid walks into. Look at it.
