A coalition of national publishers and booksellers are suing the state of Texas over a bill that will require public school library vendors to review and assign book ratings for any sexual content.
House Bill 900, which is also known as the Reader (Restricting Explicit and Adult-Designated Educational Resources) Act, was passed during the regular legislative session and was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott in June. The law is set to take effect on Sept. 1.
The law seeks to protect children from exposure to inappropriate or explicit sexual content in books and other materials in public school libraries, and enables the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to have oversight of the ratings.
The 28-page complaint, filed in a federal court in Austin, Texas, on July 25 describes the ratings law as a “Book Ban,” arguing that it violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The plaintiffs—Houston’s Blue Willow Bookshop, Austin’s BookPeople, American Booksellers Association, Association of American Publishers, Authors Guild, and Comic Book Legal Defense—are asking the court for preliminary and permanent injunctions.
The lawsuit (pdf) names Mike Morath, commissioner of the TEA; Martha Wong, chair of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission; and Keven Ellis, chair of the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE), as defendants in the case.
Under the law (pdf), school library vendors will be required to label books as “sexually explicit,” “sexually relevant,” or “no rating.” Then, they will submit their proposed ratings to the TEA for oversight and posting on its website.
Parental Rights vs. Federal Protections
The Reader Act is a result of the yearslong efforts by parents across the state and nation who have been embroiled with school districts over library materials they see as inappropriate for their children.
Concerned parents have packed school board meetings calling on districts to remove books with graphic text or images about sexual acts and abuse.
By Jana J. Pruet
