District Board of Plano ISD decides on establishing a Library Council, tasked with suggesting suitable books for selection.
Texas School Districts Form Library Advisory Councils in Response to New Law
A growing number of school districts in Texas are establishing School Library Advisory Councils (SLACs) in response to Senate Bill 13, which was passed during the recent legislative session. This trend is evident in districts such as Plano, Coppell, Denton, and Abilene, among others.
In Plano ISD, school board members have voted to create an advisory council that will recommend books for school libraries. Similarly, Denton ISD recently established a SLAC, comprising parents, students, staff, and community members to review and recommend library books and policies. Abilene ISD, too, has approved a SLAC to help oversee adding or removing library materials.
However, the law does not require districts to create SLACs unless a petition by local parents triggers the process. According to the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), voluntary SLAC creation can add procedural delays and workload burdens.
As school districts across Texas vary in their approach, some like Denton and Abilene have chosen to create SLACs proactively, while others may wait until a petition compels them to do so or avoid establishing them altogether.
In Plano ISD, Trustee Sam Johnson prefers the district's current process where librarians recommend books for school libraries. However, he values community input in book selection decisions and suggests including families and other community experts in the decision-making process, within the limits of the law.
Trustee Michael Cook has expressed concerns about the new council, worrying it could lead to problems due to potential biases among its members. Cook's concern is that the council, which will be made up of a small number of parents, may not adequately represent the 47,000 students in the district.
The SLAC is one of several "parental rights" bills that were passed during the recent legislative session. Jennifer Reagan, a Plano ISD parent, spoke against the SLAC, arguing that a small number of parents, without required expertise, may not be able to adequately evaluate the volume of books the district considers adding each year.
In conclusion, the trend across multiple districts is the formation of advisory councils to help recommend books and policies as mandated or permitted by Senate Bill 13. However, this is not uniformly applied statewide and remains largely optional unless parent-driven petitions trigger the process.
In light of the established School Library Advisory Councils (SLACs) in multiple Texas school districts, there's a growing emphasis on community involvement in education-and-self-development resources, such as school libraries. This trend, however, has sparked debates on the potential biases within these councils, with some expressing concern about their representation of the entire community, particularly in larger districts. News regarding these councils' roles and impacts on education and the community is gaining traction.
