Texas Passes Bill Requiring Ratings For Library Books

The Texas Tribune reports:

House Bill 900, which would set new standards for school libraries to keep sexually explicit content off bookshelves, is heading to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk. Librarians, legal experts and some parents are concerned that the bill’s language is vague and broad enough to ensnare books that are not inappropriate.

“House Bill 900 is simply another tool that we as a state can use to do all that we can do in our communities and in our schools to address harmful sexually explicit material,” state Sen. Angela Paxton, R-McKinney, said on the Senate floor Tuesday night.

If HB 900 passes into law, book vendors would have to assign ratings to books based on the presence of depictions or references to sex. A book would get a “sexually relevant” rating if the material describes or portrays sexual activity and is part of the required school curriculum.

Read the full article.

Sen. Angela Paxton is the wife of Texas AG Ken Paxton.

Unless Gov. Greg Abbott vetoes it, the bill will become law, which means book vendors will have to assign ratings to books based on depictions or references to sex. @TexasTribune https://t.co/0s3dE00ors

— KHOU 11 News Houston (@KHOU) May 24, 2023