House Bill 900, the Restricting Explicit and Adult‑Designated Educational Resources (READER) Act, amends the Education Code to provide for the regulation of library materials sold to or included in public school libraries. Among other provisions, the bill provides for the Texas State Library and Archives Commission's adoption of school library standards for collection development that, as follows:

· prohibit the possession, acquisition, and purchase of any harmful material or library material that is sexually explicit or pervasively vulgar or educationally unsuitable;

· recognize that obscene content is not constitutionally protected;

· recognize that parents are the primary decision makers regarding a student's access to library material and recommends schools communicate effectively with parents regarding collection development;

· are required for all library materials available for use or display;

· encourage schools to provide library catalog transparency;

· recommend schools communicate effectively with parents regarding collection development; and

· prohibit the removal of material based solely on the ideas contained therein or the personal background of the material's author or characters.

House Bill 900 requires library material vendors to issue appropriate ratings related to sexually explicit material and sexually relevant material previously sold to a public school district or public school. The bill prohibits a library material vendor from selling any library materials to district or open‑enrollment charter school unless the vendor has issued the appropriate ratings. The vendor is additionally required to submit to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) an initial list of sexually explicit material and sexually relevant material in active use by a district or charter school and annual updates to that list. The bill prohibits a vendor from selling library material rated as sexually explicit material and requires that vendor to issue a recall for all copies of such material in active use. The bill provides for TEA's authority to review and correct library material ratings and sets out provisions regarding vendors who do not comply with the ratings requirements. The bill establishes that a district or charter school or a teacher, librarian, or other staff member employed by a district or charter school is not liable for any claim or damage resulting from a vendor's violation of the bill's provisions with respect to sexually relevant material and sexually explicit material.

House Bill 900 requires each district and charter school to biennially review the content of each district or school library material that is rated as sexually relevant material by the library material vendor to determine whether to retain the reviewed material. The bill establishes reporting requirements regarding the library material reviewed and the district's or charter school's decision regarding the material.

House Bill 900	House Author: Patterson et al.
Effective: 9-1-23	Senate Sponsor: Paxton et al.