Recap: The Texas legislature charged the Texas Education Agency last summer with creating a Required “Literary” reading list and this Spring we have seen numerous iterations of a very flawed list. It is time to exercise your voice on the latest/last version!

The newest list is posted here and Monday, June 15 is the last opportunity to offer comments on the list in writing(submit here) or comments can be made by appearing at the upcoming hearing later in June.

Your comments are SUCH an important part of improving these reading choices for our kids. Check out this call to action from Frank Strong of the Texas Freedom to Read Project. And check out our insights into the list below. (And if you don’t think your comments matter - the list did see some improvements in variety and length based on comments and emails.)

Overall:

It’s not surprising that TEA created a list with biblical readings, that it lacked multiple perspectives, or that it was peppered with pieces that leaned into conservative ideology. This latest update is no exception, with pieces like Margaret Thatcher’s eulogy of Ronald Reagan, and religious passages.

Some issues with the list:

Literary merit:

Much of the list seems more focused on didactic texts(dare we say indoctrinating) and not much on literary merit. (see the next bullet points). For example, the most egregious example is “I, Pencil” a completely trite 1958 piece about manufacturing.(Read it to believe it). Instead of reading original literary works, 4th graders are assigned an adaptation of Treasure Island, while 5th graders get to enjoy an adaptation of Don Quixote. Asking students to read adaptations as “literary” works misses the point completely. So many genres are missing - what about plays other than Shakespeare? What about science fiction(Ray Bradbury?), fantasy, mystery, or parodies and satire? What about literary memoirs or sonnets or poets and essayists like Edgar Allan Poe? or Mary Oliver? or Pablo Neruda? or Barbara Kingsolver What about modern titles? If we are teaching students about literary texts, the full scope should be there and the preponderance of history titles is crowding out true literary works.

Misplaced focus on historical texts

For a list that was proclaimed to be “literary” it is chock full of history readings, more appropriate for social studies. Out of sixteen required “literary” pieces in grade 5, for example, ELEVEN of them are history texts. It’s hard to believe that for 5th graders, there are only five pieces of “literary” works that they should experience. The overall list is peppered with readings from William Bennett’s (former Ed secretary) Book of Virtues, and Book of Heroes about historical figures as well as archaic poems from Stephen Vincent Benet. In fact, mixed in with historical texts, myths like George Washington and the Cherry Tree find their way onto the list. And for some reason, the Clever Teens Guide to the Russian Revolution is also deemed a literary text critical for EVERY 9th grader in Texas to read.

Religious texts

It’s no surprise that the lists are dotted with Christian religious texts - at least one per grade. Tenth graders have multiple readings from the Book of Job, for example. Other religious adjacent pieces make an appearance as well, like “Abraham Lincoln, a Man of Faith and Courage: Stories of Our Most Admired President (Chapter 7 “The Road Back to God”)" at 6th grade or for 4th graders, Thunderstorm in Church about religious leader Martin Luther. Other than the Diary of Anne Frank, no other religion’s existence graces the list. Much has already been written about why this is problematic but to impose religious texts from one religion at every grade level goes beyond the excuse of “literary” references. It’s proselytizing.

Lack of representation

After much commentary at hearings, the list did improve upon a more representative sampling of children’s books in elementary, which we are grateful for, but that stops after fifth grade. In a state with over 50% Hispanic students in public schools, there is no reading with a Hispanic author after fifth grade, only one Asian/East Asian author on the entire list, and women authors are poorly represented at the middle and high school level. Also, the list dominates with historical pieces that exclude many Texan’s lives and stories.

Age appropriateness

Sixth graders are asked to read All Creatures Great and Small - again, completely unsuitable for their grade level, as it is 448 pages long. Fifth graders are assigned The Mayflower Compact. Every ninth grader would read Great Expectations (granted, this has in the past been a common reading for AP or honors students but not for every student as it is over 400 pages). But also, noting the high school titles - while some are certainly acceptable for AP/IB student reading levels, they are not titles that would appeal to the many Texas students who are looking at different careers rather than liberal arts colleges. There needs to be more variety in accessibility and interest levels than assigning every Texas junior to read the Scarlet Letter. Clearly whoever was compiling titles seemed to lack experience with the average actual Texas student across the state, because remember this list is mandatory.

Length of the lists

Thankfully, the committee did listen to complaints about local control and the overreaching length of the original list for secondary. The lists were shortened to 9 and 10 titles respectively, which is still a lot but allows room for growth. But for elementary, the list is still exceptionally long and prescriptive, up to 26 titles. The elementary lists need to be shortened, (by removing some of the archaic pieces first off.)

Summarizing:

Overall, if you were to ask a librarian or teacher for pieces that every student should read, this list would render a very confused evaluation. When Texans think of literary merit or literary works, they think of book that stuck with them over time, that they enjoyed reading with their own children, or that use language beautifully, or that held up to scrutiny in their English classes, or that opened up new worlds to them. It is not easy to create lists like these across a vast state like Texas. But let’s help move the committee towards a list that represents more Texans, that doesn’t indoctrinate students, and that has true literary merit overall and introduces students to a wide variety of literature. Here is a list my colleague Frank Strong and I put together with examples of titles. Again, see his excellent post.

Image: Photo by pixel2013 on Pixnio

In the Fall of 2021, our Texas FReadom Fighters group received an email from award-winning documentary filmmaker, Kim A. Snyder and her producer Janique Robillard asking if we’d consider being part of a documentary showcasing our intellectual freedom work. Our efforts as the Texas FReadom Fighters had organically “taken off” and their email was one of several heady things that landed in our inbox that shocked and surprised us. Our little team discussed the opportunity and not knowing a thing about documentaries, first researched the team and their prior award winning films and eventually agreed to participate. We had no idea at the time where the agreement for being part of the film would lead us, the people we would meet along the way, the passion the filmmakers would bring to our work, or that we’d STILL be in the same censorship fight four years later. Nor did we know this film result would transcend our Texas fight, encompass what is happening nationally and become evidentiary support of what has been happening on the intellectual freedom frontlines across our country.

We have so many memories: from the first time we were miked up at SXSW Edu Conference and had a film crew following us around in the convention center, hours spent in our homes filming, to the intense experience at the 2022 TLA Annual Conference in Fort Worth where many librarians were able to document their personal stories, to years of text messaged, phone calls, and careful fact checking from the film team, to building connections and friendships with librarians across the country, to attending the premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival last January(!) The incredible moment of viewing the story of our frontline colleagues protecting intellectual freedom on the big screen in Park City, Utah in front of an audience was surreal and so rewarding.

What has it meant being a part of something like this? The most important part is The Librarians documentary allows viewers to see the full complexity of this moment in our country’s history. Our film has put all that happened into context, tying all the loose threads together in a powerful way, telling the story of the work of librarians and what’s happening in this moment. The film conveys an understanding of how libraries and schools are essential to democracy - an understanding of how the early days of 2021 were harbingers of things to come - but this storytelling medium also shares the real courage of every day people - librarians, parents, students, community members - who have come forward to speak up for readers rights to book access and intellectual freedom. We value each person’s commitment, no matter how public or quiet their efforts, to fight across America for the first amendment.

The Librarian Film will screen on PBS Independent Lens on Monday, February 9 or on their online PBS YouTube channel. If you have either watched the film or not, we hope you’ll make time to view and share this opportunity with your family and friends. We’ve been actively engaged in pushing back on censorship attempts in our area since 2021 and continue supporting many who reach out. It is our hope The Librarians film will educate, inspire and activate you and all viewers now and future generations to come.

The last year in Texas has seen a spate of book bans and new legislation for school libraries and classrooms, with so many different iterations it’s been hard to keep up. The constant fires and confusion have kept all types of FReadom fighters in Texas extremely busy. But as we’ve continued to see throughout the country, everyday folks are joining seasoned advocates to stand up locally for the right to read and for their libraries. In the majority of Texas school board races, extremist candidates lost in the May and November elections. And only one of the spate of library censorship bills actually passed(though it has been an implementation struggle). Around the country, a number of states have passed anti-censorship bills this last year as well. And in many local communities, local advocates have forced their libraries to reopen(thanks New Braunfels parents), or put books back on the shelves or give them due process through enforcing district procedures.

The new bills in Texas were like a multi-headed hydra, cropping up in unexpected ways and bills that had little to do with libraries at all still affecting books offered in schools and classrooms. And if you’ve watched any of it unfolding, you know it’s mostly unfounded, overhyped, and uncalled for by the majority of parents. But it’s draining. It’s draining to be involved in a fight “against” all the time, to be stamping out one fire and another fire, and to be fighting nebulous fear as well as actual bills.

Which brings me to hope and joy. What we are really fighting is about taking the joy of reading away - away from students, library patrons and librarians themselves. Reading is an act of personal joy and communal joy. Libraries provide access to that for readers. Part of what’s being diminished is this joy around reading, at a time we know students are reading less(at least reading less traditionally books) and need to be reading more(because our democracy depends on literate voters). When you create a sense of suspicion around books, people become guarded and wary. We’ve seen that in history as well. Of course, being guarded and wary is not conducive to joy or hope, though it’s realistic to feel that way.

But as we enter 2026, we want to invite you in to joy. Because joy and hope are a choice too. And what a joy it is that we have an increasingly diversified collection of texts to choose from in libraries and classrooms. What a joy is it that we have libraries in small communities that bring people together and support their aspirations. What a joy it is to watch in a library’s children’s section kids sitting in a cozy chair engrossed in a good book. What hope is there when we see someone getting their first passport at a library(thank you Austin!) or being able to get online and fill out a job application for their first job! What simple personal joy it is to bring a book home from the library or borrow an ebook and immerse yourself in someone else’s story, quietly escaping when you need to. And what a sense of accomplishment when you finish one book, or one manga series or ten audiobooks or whatever your reading passion is. Also, we want to remember how these causes bring us together in community, too - making new joyful friendships.

So this year, deep in the midst of a very determined fight for the first amendment, for the rights of readers, and for the work of libraries, we also want to invite you to mindfully recall and celebrate the joy and hope. And then to bring that joy to the fight - to come to school board meetings to share the joy of reading for your family, to write your school superintendent or your city council a joyful letter about the ways libraries have nurtured you, to drop off flowers for your librarian, to joyfully(with defiant joy) donate to advocates who are fighting for your rights and freedoms. History tells us that freedom wants to be free, that we are on the right side of history and that reading and books will prevail, ultimately. And that is where hope comes in to meet with joy.

So as we FReadom Fighters enter into 2026, we invite you to join the fight or to continue fighting, leaning with us on hope and joy. We can’t let them take that away because it is ours to hold, to cherish, and to give. We may have to buckle up and buckle down this year, but let’s always remember what we are fighting for - our freedoms and yours. As poet Emily Dickinson reminds us, ““Hope” is the thing with feathers - that perches in the soul.” Let’s keep that hope, that hope that helped found our country’s freedoms, let’s keep that hope shining as we go forward this year. It will help sustain us unceasingly as Dickinson wrote, “And sings the tune without the words -And never stops - at all.”

As a team, we recently experienced very profound emotions as the documentary The Librarians, which we've been a part of for the last three years, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Thrillingly, a number of librarians in the film were included in the events around the Sundance premiere, along with director Kim Snyder and producers Janique Robillard and Maria Cuomo Cole and executive producer Sarah Jessica Parker. To sit together in a large theater seeing our professional stories unfold, seeing the challenges we've been through as librarians on the big screen, and witnessing an audience experience these things with us in such a visceral way was so deeply moving. To get standing ovations at the end of each screening, to hear that audience members cried, to read reviews that explain how impacted the reviewer was, to walk through the snowy streets and be greeted with cheers - was all so validating knowing what so many librarians like us have gone through the last three and a half years.

The Librarians documentary truly is beautiful, impactful, and distressing; yet what shines through for us is the courage of librarians - both the librarians in the film and the librarians we know who are courageously doing the work, in both private and public ways, to support our democratic (little d) values. As we walked through the streets of Park City, people would stop and thank us, praise their own librarian, or compliment the film. It felt so rewarding and getting to watch the film together with fellow librarians and friends was such a bonding experience. It was a reminder that there is truly support and strength being in community with our fellow professionals.

In an ironic twist, on the same day as The Librarians film premiered, the new administration issued a statement through the Department of Education stating that "book bans are a hoax." The Librarians film stands in solid denial of this propaganda and will stand, historically, as a rebuke of this claim. But that edict, along with numerous executive orders and the continued heated rhetoric in Washington, particularly around LGBTQ students and students of color and the right to access curriculum, is deeply worrisome. Like many of you, we find it hard to take in all of these actions, and with the sheer volume maybe even wonder how we can make a difference.

First off, self-care is critical. Tear yourself away from screens, walk outside, call a friend or go to a museum or library. Carve out some time for silence so you can hear your own thoughts. Journal about the good things about your work or your week. Savor the special moment in times spent with your friends or students or patrons. Read a whole book. Build a community or join communities who care about the things you care about. But consciously, don’t overdo at the table of media.

Second, our experience at Sundance showed us how many people do care, especially as they become more aware of the realities librarians and students are experiencing. And awareness is a step toward moving into action. Ultimately we want people to become motivated to act, to write a letter to a legislator, to speak at a board meeting, to support students who just want to read. Many people in this country oppose book banning. Feeling it viscerally at the film premiere, we were buoyed to realize that the audience was with us, symbolic of how many other Americans are aligned with us once they know the whole story.

Texas FReadom Fighters believes that families deserve to see their stories on the shelves of our libraries and classrooms, and that each reader deserves to know about their world. We believe that we all belong in our school and local communities. We believe that students possess basic civil rights and protection from harassment. We believe in the power of a librarian, teacher, or author to impact and change students’ lives and to reassure students they aren't alone in this world of varied experiences. We believe in the power of professional librarians to create balanced, diverse collections to serve their whole community. We believe librarians and educators are trained professionals who care deeply about their students and patrons and want to serve them with that care. And we believe in the power of the written word to teach us more about our times and to prepare us for our future.

So we want to take this moment to remind everyone to take courage, and to take nourishment from the support of so many others for your work. Many, many, many Americans believe libraries are central to our communities of learning. Your work is appreciated and we are so proud to be a part of an amazing community of librarians and educators around the country. Let's continue to work together to support creating places where all families belong, wholeheartedly. And let's keep our eye on that prize as a light to guide us through the current storms.

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