NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas – Dozens of people spoke at a special-called New Braunfels ISD board meeting after the closure of middle and high school libraries in the district.
The district temporarily closed libraries at its secondary schools to review the district’s books and ensure they comply with Texas Senate Bill 13. The bill passed in the Texas Legislature in June and went into effect on Sept. 1.
They flagged 81 books for further review. The books will be listed as either SB 13 compliant or non-compliant once that review is complete.
The books are on the district’s website for parents and faculty to be able to review.
All the libraries will reopen in the district on Monday.
Oak Run Middle School student Amelia Becker spoke out against the closure of her school’s library at the meeting.
“There may be some kids in our school who’s only access to books is through our library,” Becker said. “Whatever the regulation should be in order to abide by Senate Bill 13, this is not right. Locking away our books, breaking our trust, is not right.”
A majority of Thursday evening’s speakers spoke against the closure of their district’s middle and high school libraries.
“Although this is a temporary closure, it is still a form of censorship because it restricts my access to the books within the library,” Piper Morgan said.
However, there were several speakers who voiced their admiration of the board’s decision to close libraries while they review book content.
“Not everybody is equipped to handle some of the books that I’ve investigated in this school district,” one woman said. “Some of them made me sick to my stomach when I started reading them, and I don’t think that should be in middle school.”
Some people who spoke to the board read excerpts from books they said have been accessible in NBISD.
“One book I saw is Tricks by Ellen Hopkins,” a man named Mason told the board before reading an explicit excerpt from the book.
The board went into executive session after the final person spoke to the board. Executive session began just before 8 p.m. During executive session, the board of trustees spoke amongst each other in a closed-door meeting.
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