LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Lubbock ISD is revising the review process for its School Library Advisory Council as Texas lawmakers reshape what books can be placed on public school library shelves.
Texas Senate Bill 13, which took effect this academic school year, establishes content guidelines for school libraries and allows parents, community members, and employees to challenge any book in a school library.
SB 13 provides any community member, employee, or parent the chance to submit a challenge form to have a book removed from library shelves. Once a challenge form is submitted, the book is immediately pulled from circulation. The School Library Advisory Council then has 90 days to review the book and submit a recommendation to the school board.
Kim Callison, LISD assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, said the council’s review goes beyond the content of the book itself.
“Our first phase of our process, which was just approved by our board last month, is we kind of look at the circulation at the district level,” Callison said. “We look at the circulation of that book to determine if kids are even checking it out.”
SLAC is made up of eight volunteer Lubbock ISD parents. They were approved by the LISD school board.
“They’re really giving a recommendation based around the community’s values,” she said. “So they’re reading the book as a parent because all of them are parents.”
In previous board and SLAC meetings, community members have raised concerns about the content in some of the district’s books. One woman claimed students are getting slowly desensitized to “liberal ideology” comparing it to a frog getting more accustomed to a boiling pot.
“There are 30 books from prisons by the TDCJ – the Texas Department of Criminal Justice – they don’t want these books in libraries. Yet, out of the 30 books prohibited from prisons there are 12 of these books in LISD libraries.”
Callison wants to assure parents and the community the district’s librarians are trained and certified to create a library collection with students in mind.
“They know books that are award winners, and they want to bring those to the students,” Callison said. “They want to bring just a wider world view to our students.”
Callison also noted that the challenge process works in both directions — a book can be removed from access if a form is submitted, even if a parent would otherwise want their child to have access to it.
“Community members that maybe don’t even have a student in the school are able to fill out forms to have books reconsidered,” she said. “And so with that in mind, a student may not have access to a book that a parent would want them to have access too, should a form be filled out and it goes through the process.”
According to LISD’s records, 35 books are currently under review. The district reports it has not received any complaints about books or new content being brought into its libraries in 2026.
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