Texas SB 13

Parental Rights Regarding Access to Library Materials

SB 13 requires school systems to adopt procedures that allow parents of enrolled children to access the school’s catalog of library materials and submit a list of materials their child may not be allowed to check out or access outside the school library. The procedures must allow parents to do the following:

• Access the district or school’s online library catalog system 

• Submit a list of materials using an electronic or physical form

Materials Acquisition Policy 

SB 13 also requires the board of trustees of each school district to adopt a policy for the acquisition of library materials, which includes procedures for the procurement of library materials and the receipt of donated library materials before the first day of the 2025-2026 school year. 

TEA determinations of compliance with the requirement to adopt a policy before the start of the school year will take into consideration demonstration of a good faith effort to make progress toward adopting the required policy as soon as possible if a policy is not in place before the start of the school year. 

Each time a school library catalog is updated, the board of trustees must approve or reject the list of proposed library materials at the first open meeting of the board held 30 days or later after the list is made available to the public. 

If a school district establishes a local school library advisory council, the council must meet to determine its recommendations before the date of the board of trustees' open meeting, when the board would vote to approve or reject a list of library materials. School districts should consider identifying the frequency of library catalog updates in their local materials acquisition policies.

Challenge or Appeal Regarding Library Materials 

A parent, a district employee, or a person residing in the district may submit a written challenge to any library material in the school library catalog or an appeal to the board of trustees of an action taken by the district in response to a received written challenge. If a district establishes a local school library advisory council, the district must provide a copy of the challenge to the council no later than the fifth day after the written challenge is received. The council must then make a recommendation for action no later than the 90th day after receiving the challenge. 

A board of trustees must act on a written challenge at the first open meeting held after the 90th day after receipt of a written challenge, or if applicable, after the advisory council has made a recommendation regarding the challenge. The board must act on an appeal at the first open meeting held after the appeal is filed.

The new statute requires TEA to adopt and make available on its website a form to be used in making a written challenge to library materials, and districts must post the form on their websites. School districts must post this form on their website as soon as practicable and are encouraged to make the form as easy for parents to access as possible, including allowing them to complete and submit the form online. 

Click the button below for the Booker ISD Feedback for Library Purchases form.

Booker Public Library: Current List of Books

The books are categorized as follows:

Adult = Adult section

Easy = Grade school level

Youth/ Juvenile = 4th grade and up

NonFiction = All ages

Stacks = books on the shelf that have not been categorized

Spanish = Spanish language books

Click the button below to see all the books currently in the library, by category.