Here’s Fort Worth ISD’s list of over 100 library books removed for sexual, violent content

Lina Ruiz
·2 min read
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As Fort Worth Independent School District reopened its libraries to students on Monday — after closing them for the first two weeks of school to review titles for sexual or violent content — officials have released the district’s list of more than 100 books that were pulled from shelves as a result of the state-mandated review.

The books will remain in the district’s professional library and unavailable to students as officials await further guidance from book vendors and the Texas Education Agency. Vendors will give certain books a “sexually relevant” or “sexually explicit” rating in accordance with a new state law that goes into effect Friday.

“As part of the inventory process, some books were selected for review to determine if they were developmentally appropriate. In addition, books are being reviewed to ensure that they meet current FWISD Collection Development requirement s... Selected books will be reviewed by a committee of master-certified librarians,” Cesar Padilla, a spokesperson for the district, said in a statement Monday.

Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 900 this summer, requiring “sexually relevant” books to have parental permission before being checked out by a student while removing “sexually explicit” books entirely from school libraries.

“According to the legislation, every odd-numbered year, beginning January 1, 2025, school districts must review the material in their collection rated sexually relevant by vendors and determine, based on the district’s collection development and reconsideration policies, if the material should remain in the collection,” Padilla said.

“By Jan. 1, 2024, the State Board of Education must approve the state mandatory collection development standards. By April 1, 2024, vendors will provide an initial list of materials that they rated sexually explicit to TEA. By Sept. 1, 2024, an updated list must be provided to TEA. Starting on Jan. 1, 2025, school districts must review the vendor-rated sexually relevant material in the current collection and post a report on the district website,” Padilla added.

District officials announced in July that Fort Worth ISD was removing three books from its elementary and middle school shelves after determining them to be inappropriate: “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe, “Flamer” by Mike Curato, and “Wait What? A Comic Book Guide to Relationships, Bodies, and Growing Up” by Heather Corinna.