Heroic Texas Librarians Refuse Book Bans

Standing up for the right to read in Pearland, Texas

Texas is famous for lots of things. Barbeque, cowboys, Western swing, and the Texas Rangers come to mind. The freedom to read is not one of those things. According to PEN America, Texas schools banned nearly 540 books during the 2023-24 school year.

Most banned books are stories of race, sexuality, and gender identity. Only Florida and Iowa banned more school library books during the same timeframe (PEN America index of school book bans). Readers may know that book bans hold my attention in a way unlike other phenomena. I’ve written about them in Book Bans and the Fight for Literary Freedom and Welcoming Autumn and the Freedom to Read and Write.

Texas Senate Bill 13 — requiring that school boards, not librarians, have the final say over books in school libraries— recently passed by a 10-1 vote in the Senate Committee on Education K-16. It is expected to quickly pass in a full vote of the Texas Senate.

According to the bill, school advisory councils—mostly composed of parents of students in a district—will recommend which books remain and which are removed from school libraries. School board approval or denial of book placement will be based upon advisory council decisions. Additionally, any challenged books are to be removed from shelves until a school board decides whether they stay or go. (Texas may change how schools select library books).

Censorship in Texas Public Libraries

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and ACLU of Texas filed an amicus brief September 10, 2024 in Little v. Llano County. The case challenges Llano County’s removal of seventeen books from their public library system. The Llano County library commissioner required county librarians to remove the books. This was after local residents decided they violated community standards of decency (Little v. Llano County).

These included various kids’ books about “butts and farts,” as well as award-winning books by acclaimed authors, like Maurice Sendak’s “In the Night Kitchen,” “Caste” by Isabel Wilkerson, and Robie H. Harris’ “It’s Perfectly Normal.” Not only did the commissioner order the librarians to comply, but in January 2022, the existing library board was dissolved, a new board with the residents who spearheaded the book removals was appointed, and the libraries were temporarily closed to scour the shelves and remove any book the board deemed “inappropriate.”

Here’s the Heroism

I have a friend living in the town of Pearland in Brazoria County, Texas. She went to look up banned books in her county, wanting to purchase them for her young son to read when he’s older. To her utter amazement, the librarians told her they have banned no books. Zero. The librarians in the county have set up a 3-step process (my friend calls it long and annoying) for those complaining about a book to follow. The head of libraries told her they’ve shifted a couple things around as a result of complaints, like moving a book from the children’s section to the young adult section. But the overall gist is that Pearland’s librarians trust people and families to make the right decisions for themselves.

Words from the head of libraries in Brazoria County:

We aren’t removing the Bible, not removing LGBTQ+ literature, not removing anything about racism or history. Not removing anything. The books live all in here together, like we should be doing in the world.

photo courtesy of Pearland Public Library

Three cheers for the brave Pearland librarians and their lucky patrons! If you have a similar story of courage behind the library checkout counter, I’d love to hear it. In these times of censorship and restricted access to books, every act of brave defiance matters.