Thank You, Texas! Here's What We Need Now.

Texans resoundingly told the members of the House State Affairs Committee that we don't want the anti-library HB3225. They didn't listen.

Let me start with the bad news—and it is very, very bad news. HB3225, the bill that would ban young people from most parts of municipal public libraries, was voted out of the Texas House of Representatives State Affairs Committee on Wednesday after a long hearing on Monday.¹ That’s not a surprise, given the committee’s partisan makeup.² It means the bill now goes to Calendars, and it could appear on the House floor for a vote by the whole chamber any day.

The bill is still a long way away from becoming law, and we will continue fighting it, because it is truly one of the most damaging anti-book bills we’ve seen this session. But before we talk about how to do that, I want to want to just say with my whole heart:

THANK YOU, TEXAS.

We asked you to stand up and speak out against this bill, and you delivered. More than 750 of you sent emails to the committee through Texas Freedom to Read’s website platform. More than 350 of you wrote public comments opposing the bill. Countless numbers of you called and sent emails on your own.

And on the day of the hearing, 190 of you—filling four full pages in the legislative record—registered as witnesses in opposition to the bill.

This was a statewide effort, not just among book-loving individuals, but also organizations including the Texas Institute of Letters, the ACLU of Texas, Authors Against Book Bans, Texas FReadom Fighters, Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, and many more. Representatives expressed surprise at the sheer volume of emails and calls they got on the bill.

But it wasn’t just the quantity of comments that was so amazing—as evidenced by the public comments and in-person testimony, you all were so thoughtful, informed, and impassioned in describing why libraries matter for young people and what harms HB3225 would do.

To give you a sense of what I mean, here are a few highlights from Monday’s in-person testimony:³

Unfortunately, those numbers, facts, and reason didn’t overcome scaremongering and dumb partisanship. At least not this week.

What’s Next?

Now is the time to contact your own representative and tell them to vote against HB3225. If you already wrote the State Affairs Committee, it’s easy: you can use the same message again. Even if your rep is on State Affairs and already voted for the bill, it’s still worth trying to change their mind.

And as many of you contacted the committee before the hearing, we need even more of you to contact the legislature now. Can you get your partner/spouse/best friend/ to join you in contacting your representative? Can you email and call?

Follow Texas Freedom to Read Project on BlueSky or Instagram for more calls to action, for guides and key points you can make to your legislators. Y’all have already been inspirational. And we won’t quit fighting for our kids, our libraries, or our communities.

1. Wednesday was a very bad day for learning in Texas. On the same day, the House voted in favor of SB2, the voucher bill, clearing the way for it to go to the governor’s desk. And the Senate voted in favor of SB37, which would seriously limit what can be taught in Texas universities.

2. The committee includes 9 Republicans and 6 Democrats. The vote was 10-5, with Democrat Richard Raymond joining the Republicans to advance the bill. Raymond often votes with the Republicans, and last session he voted in favor of the unconstitutional anti-book bill HB900. If you are in the Laredo area, please let him know what you think about his vote to kick young people out of libraries: richard.raymond@house.texas.gov

3. There were many more great comments! I’m sorry I didn’t have time to fit them all into this video. Watch the whole hearing here. The portion on HB3225 starts at 1:42:00.