Please contact your state senator and state rep today about HB 3225 & SB 13

When I returned to the Texas Capitol to testify a second time against HB 3225, the hearing occurred inside the Senate chamber. That meant I had a great opportunity to get close to the portrait of former Texas State Senator Barbara Jordan, the subject of my picture book What Do You Do with a Voice Like That? The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan.

I know it's a Sunday.

I know it's a holiday weekend.

But I also know that you wouldn't be a Bartography Express subscriber if you didn't care about books and reading, and I can't imagine caring about books and reading and not also caring about libraries.

Two pieces of Texas legislation that would fundamentally harm how public libraries (House Bill 3225) and school libraries (Senate Bill 13) operate are going to be voted on very, very soon by the state Senate and the state House of Represenatives, respectively.

These links from the Texas Freedom to Read Project —

Senate Bill 13: Another Step Towards Censorship, Not Solutions

Stop House Bill 3225

— will fill you in on the details and provide a quick way for you to let your legislators know how you feel about these bills. And I hope you will, ASAP.

I think both of these bills are destructive, but my schedule this spring allowed me to testify against only HB 3225, which I did twice. You can watch (two minutes each) and read both of those testimonies below.

As I told the senators I addressed during my second appearance, "I guarantee you that the public libraries in the communities you serve are some of the best things going in your districts." I know that's true for school libraries as well.

If you agree — and if you believe that the freedom to read should be available to all Texans regardless of their age — please use the links above and let your Texas state senator (not John Cornyn or Ted Cruz) and Texas state representative know.

Thank you for reading,

My name is Chris Barton. I’ve used Texas libraries since I was a kid, and now I write children’s books found in many of them. And I guarantee you that the public libraries in the communities you serve are some of the best things going in your districts. 



So why make Texas public libraries harder to use?

That’s what this bill would do. 

This bill started with one parent in Tyler who didn’t like that he couldn’t control what books his kids might see at a library serving the entire community.

Texarkana is 100 miles from Tyler, Senator Hughes — why should library patrons there suffer because of some parent’s complaint about a book he claims he found in Tyler?

Same for parents in Prosper, Senator Paxton. And in Richardson, Senator Hall. Why would you let a gripe about book options at a library in Tyler interfere with your constituents’ freedom to read?

Senator Parker, the Bridgeport Library is 170 miles away from Tyler. Senator Bettancourt, the library serving Jersey Village is 200 miles away. How would your constituents feel about forbidding teens from doing research anywhere but the children’s section? 

Senator Schwertner, I can’t imagine that your constituents who use the Round Rock library will find it any more acceptable.

Senator Birdwell, have you talked with Stephenville city staff about the consequences for them because someone in Tyler doesn’t trust his kid to read independently?

Senator Middleton, this bill would turn the Rosenberg Library — 250 miles from Tyler — from a temple of knowledge into a shrine to the nanny state. 

400 miles away is the Mahon Public Library in Lubbock, Senator Perry. The library in Laredo is 450 miles away, Senator Zaffirini. That’s quite the reach for a petty complaint from Tyler. 

Brownsville is 500 miles away, Senator Hinojosa. How is keeping the 16-year-olds in your district from accessing the adult section of the library going to help your constituents?

This is a family issue, not a State Affairs issue. Parents don’t need anyone telling them where in their public libraries their own kids can go. They don’t need it in Tyler, and they don’t need it anywhere else. Vote against this bill.

My name is Chris Barton. I’m vice president of the Texas Institute of Letters, a literary honor society that has been around since 1936. One of our most celebrated members was Larry McMurtry, author of the classic novel Lonesome Dove. 

I read that book when I was a minor in the 1980s. It opened my eyes to the fact that great literature was being created in — and could be written by citizens of — the Lone Star State. 

But under pro-censorship 3225, Lonesome Dove’s overall merit is of no importance. All that matters is that in its 900 pages, Texas Ranger-turned-cattle driver Gus McCrae makes a few earthy references to sex. “Poke” and “carrot” are the euphemisms he uses. 

Under the anti-free-speech 3225, those occasional pokes and carrots might have been enough to keep the library of my little Texas hometown from allowing me access to that book. Or maybe access to the entire adult section. Or maybe access to the library itself — just to make sure that the library didn’t incur a $10,000 penalty for enabling a young patron’s intellectual curiosity. 

If you think anti-library 3225 wouldn’t have that effect — that no one would try to interpret this book ban so strictly — restricting book access is its point. Approving this bill would do a disservice to the families who value their own children’s curiosity and education. It will dissuade such families from moving here. It will discourage Texas families from staying.

If a few Texas parents don’t want their kids to have free and full access to our libraries, let those parents hold their own children’s hands, never allow them out of their sight, and never allow them to think for themselves. That’s on them. 

But Texas libraries are treasures paid for by our tax dollars. Leave our libraries alone and let the rest of us — and our families — make good use of them. Vote against this bill.