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Students in sixth through 12th grade in the New Braunfels Independent School District are currently unable to visit their school libraries or check out books.
According to district officials, the New Braunfels school board voted Monday evening to "temporarily suspend student access to all secondary libraries and all secondary library materials effective immediately while the district ensures compliance with Senate Bill 13."
"To ensure that all library materials in NBISD schools comply with the standards of SB 13, the Board has directed a comprehensive review of the district's collection, which includes more than 195,000 books and resources. Secondary schools have a collection of more than 50,000 titles. Books that are found to violate SB 13 will be removed from the library's collection," district officials said in a press release.
Senate Bill 13 became law six weeks ago on September 1 and does not require districts to close their libraries or conduct a review of every book in their current collection.
When asked why they were closing their libraries, and why they were doing it now, district officials provided a statement from the board of trustees that said it was "a precautionary and responsible step."
"This measure ensures that we are fully compliant with state law regarding indecent, profane, or harmful content," the board's statement said. "We certainly do not intend to limit access permanently but want to uphold our duty to provide a safe and appropriate learning environment while we carefully evaluate our collections. Once the review is complete, we look forward to restoring full access to materials that meet the legal and educational criteria."
SB 13 does mention "harmful," "indecent," and "profane" material, but only to define them and list them as references for a district's policies on acquiring new books and responding to book challenges.
Carolyn Foote, the co-founder of the advocacy group Texas FReadom Fighters, has another theory on the timing of the closures of the New Braunfels libraries.
"It's probably public pressure, which is often what happens in these cases," Foote said. "Organized political pressure puts a lot of demands on a local school district that was not prepared for the pressure."
Foote was a guest on TPR's The Source Tuesday to talk about book censorship.
She pointed out the closures are not required by state law.
"This is also unprecedented. I've not heard of this happening until the last four years throughout my 40 years as a teacher and a librarian," Foote said. "It's just another way in Texas and in other states in the South that we're seeing pullbacks to academic freedom."
Senate Bill 13 directs school districts to update its policy for reviewing new library books, requires school boards to approve additions to the catalog, and gives school communities the ability to force boards to create local school advisory councils if 10% of parents vote for it. SB 13 also outlines the steps required when a book is challenged and gives parents access to the library catalog so they can bar their children from checking out books they deem inappropriate.
On August 28, the Texas Education Agency sent a letter to district administrators telling them how to comply with the law. It focuses on acquisition, challenges, and access to the catalog and does not direct them conduct a review of their entire current collection.
In a news release announcing the library closures, New Braunfels officials said they're also reviewing the books in their elementary schools, but those libraries will remain open while they conduct the review.
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