Welcome to the Hub City, where we’re so bored with the dust and the potholes that we’ve decided to treat our school libraries like an episode of Survivor. Thanks to Texas Senate Bill 13, Lubbock ISD is officially “revising” how it handles book challenges. Translation: We’ve handed a “Delete” button to anyone in the zip code with a grudge and a Wi-Fi connection.
Here’s the fun part: under the new rules, if a parent, an employee, or just some random guy who happens to live in Lubbock submits a challenge form, the book is immediately yanked from the shelves. No trial, no jury, just straight to literary jail for up to 90 days while a group of eight “volunteer parents” decides if the book aligns with “community values.” Because nothing says “education” like letting the loudest person in the room decide what everyone else’s kid is allowed to read.
LISD is also getting “scientific” with it. Assistant Superintendent Kim Callison says they’re checking “circulation levels” to see if kids are even reading the books being challenged. Apparently, if a book isn’t a bestseller at Coronado High, it’s easier to toss into the fire. Meanwhile, community members are showing up to meetings comparing students to “frogs in a boiling pot” of liberal ideology. They’re even pointing out that our libraries contain 12 books that are banned in prisons. I hate to be the one to tell them, but “doing better than the Texas Department of Criminal Justice” is a pretty low bar for a public school system.
The best part of this democratic disaster? It works both ways. A community member who doesn’t even have a kid in the district can file a form and—poof—the book disappears, even if you, the actual parent, wanted your child to read it. Currently, 35 books are sitting in time-out waiting for the “Values Police” to finish their book report.
If we’re banning everything the TDCJ doesn’t like, are we also going to start serving the high schoolers “nutriloaf” for lunch and charging them $15 for a 10-minute phone call to their moms?
https://www.kcbd.com/2026/03/11/lubbock-isd-rewriting-review-process-library-books/
