Texas Library Association launches group to fight book bans

With its creation of an advocacy group to oppose statewide book bans, the Texas Library Association is sending a message: the loudest voices don’t represent everyone. Politicians’ outcries about “inappropriate” reading material belie the fact that “there are millions of Texans who want to support these rights,” TLA president-elect Mary Woodard said at a press conference Tuesday at TLA’s annual conference. TLA launched Texans for the Right to Read in March in response to the recent rise in book bans across Texas libraries. It aims to get opponents to the movement involved at the community level, where decisions about censorship are being made. Between July 2021 and March 2022, 1,586 books were banned in 86 school districts across 26 states, according to a recent report from free expression organization PEN America.

Texas topped the list with 713 book bans in 16 school districts, including Granbury, where three books were removed from shelves and its review of material prompted intervention by the ACLU of Texas. Politicians have taken notice and are bringing attention to the issue “to win elections,” said Shirley Robinson, executive director of TLA. “It’s easy to see this is an election year ploy designed to sow mistrust between parents and educators and divide our state based on party affiliation and ideology,” said Robinson. In October 2021, state Rep. Matt Krause of Fort Worth wrote a letter to the Texas Education Agency, asking districts to investigate the presence of more than 850 books in school libraries. Krause, a Republican, is running for Tarrant County district attorney. An analysis by the Dallas Morning News found of the first 100 titles listed, 97 were written by women, people of color and LGBTQ authors. Days after Krause’s letter, Gov. Greg Abbott penned his own missive outlining the Texas Association of School Boards’ responsibility to ensure students are not “exposed to pornography” in Texas public schools.