A Look at the Books Banned in Texas Schools and Prisons
By Mackenzie Sams, masams@ttu.edu
National Library Week will be from April 6-12, according to the American Library Association
April 7 will be Right to Read Day, “a day for readers, advocates, and library lovers to take action to protect, defend, and celebrate the right to read,” the ALA website reads.
The American Library Association will start the week off by releasing its annual State of America’s Libraries report, which will include its list of the 10 most challenged books in the country.
Texas banned the third most books of any state in the 2023-2024 school year, according to data from PEN America. Florida banned the most and Illinois the second most.
The majority of book bans in Texas schools occur in a minority of districts, with 538 books banned across only a dozen districts, mostly in central and southern Texas.
In Midland ISD, three books were banned in March 2024, “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult, “No Child’s Game: Reality TV 2083” by Andrea White and “No More Excuses: Dismantling Rape Culture” by Amber J. Keyser.
Several literary classics are banned in Texas districts, including “Beloved,” “Brave New World,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Slaughterhouse Five,” “The Bluest Eye,” “The Color Purple,” “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Three Musketeers.”
Critics say the bans unfairly target books with racial content and LGBTQ+ characters.
This legislative session, a new bill, SB 13, would create a mechanism where parents could submit a list of books to their child’s school that the child would be prohibited from checking out. Parents would be able to see every book their child checked out through a parent portal.
“As legislators, educators, and parents, we are obligated to uphold the sacred charge to protect children by preventing easy access for harmful and obscene materials,” said Matthew McCormick, K-12 policy analyst for the Texas Public Policy Foundation at a Senate committee meeting.
Each school district would also have to establish a library council to “[ensure] that local community values are reflected in each school library catalog in the district.”
SB 13 has passed the Senate, but it has not yet made it through the House. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has it on his list of his top 40 priority bills for this legislative session.
It isn’t just in schools where book bans are happening. In Texas prisons, according to data compiled by The Marshall Project, around 10,000 books are banned.
According to the Uniform Inmate Correspondence Rules, number BP-03.91, there are several reasons why a book may be banned from Texas prisons. Sexually explicit images or content involving illegal sexual acts – such as rape or incest – are banned, as is anything that could aid a prisoner in committing a crime, including content that explains how to make drugs or weapons, content that could help a prisoner escape or content that describes the setup of criminal schemes.
Under these provisions, maps and atlases, how-to books for coding, artistic reference books, martial arts guides and crime novels have all been banned.
Books may also be banned from Texas prisons for “communicating information designed to achieve the breakdown of prisons through inmate disruption such as strikes, disturbances, riots, or Security Threat Group (STG) activity.”
For some books, no reason is given for its ban nor is one readily apparent. “Basic Writing Techniques” by T. Jeff Williams is banned, as is “Childhood: A Multicultural View” by Melvin Conner and “Do it Yourself: Witchcraft Guide” by Luba Servarg.
