On Monday, June 12, 2023, Gov. Abbott signed into law the controversial Removing Explicit and Adult Designated Educational Resources (READER) Act, written by state representative Jared Patterson from Frisco. Slated to go into effect on September 1, 2023, Texas students and teachers might find fewer books on the shelves of school libraries.
The new law mandates the creation of library standards in public schools and requires vendors to rate books as “sexually explicit,” which is prohibited in school, and “sexually relevant,” which, while allowed, would only be accessible to children after the library obtains the student’s parents written consent.
According to Patterson, the law is the result of his work removing books from schools for the past 14 months in an attempt to stop the sexualization of children. “My HB 1655 – aka The READER Act – and my HB 1155 are the most aggressive attempts to remove sexual indoctrination in the country,” said Patterson in an official statement.
“We fought here in Frisco ISD, we fought them for a very long time,” Patterson told WFAA. “It shouldn’t have even been a discussion, it shouldn’t have even been an argument.”
As previously reported by Local Profile, Frisco ISD drafted new guidelines for reviewing publications and permanently removed five books from library shelves for the first time in 2022.
While the legal liability of failing to rate the books falls on the vendors and not on the school districts and their libraries, the Texas Library Association (TLA) expressed concerns about the vague language of the law. “Much is unclear about how vendors will fulfill their responsibilities to rate books and how those new processes will impact the ability of libraries to purchase materials in a timely manner,” TLA’s Executive Director Shirley Robinson told Local Profile.
Patterson disagrees with TLA’s concerns over vague language and unclear processes. “The Texas Library Association is an enemy to children in this state,” he told WFAA. “If you printed out the definition of 'sexually explicit,' it would go three-quarters of a page. It’s very detailed.”
Robinson also worries the new law would discourage vendors to work with Texas school libraries at all. “The bill puts a tremendous burden on vendors, some may choose to no longer sell to Texas schools, and some may have to pass along the cost of compliance to schools - driving up the cost of school library purchases.”
“Library collections in schools may become dated and eroded as implementation is highly complex and burdensome,” added Robinson. “Our students’ learning and access to timely and relevant library materials will be impacted.”
