

Many of the books under fire are newer titles, purchased by school librarians in recent years as part of a nationwide movement to diversify the content available to public school children. A handful of the districts reported more challenges this year than in the past two decades combined.Īll but a few of the challenges this school year targeted books dealing with racism or sexuality, the majority of them featuring LGBTQ characters and explicit descriptions of sex. In comparison, only one library book challenge was filed at those districts during the same time period a year earlier, records show.

Records requests to nearly 100 school districts in the Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin regions - a small sampling of the state's 1,250 public school systems - revealed 75 formal requests by parents or community members to ban books from libraries during the first four months of this school year. Hundreds of titles have been pulled from libraries across the state for review, sometimes over the objections of school librarians, several of whom told NBC News they face increasingly hostile work environments and mounting pressure to pre-emptively pull books that might draw complaints. Her safe haven is now a battleground in an unprecedented effort by parents and conservative politicians in Texas to ban books dealing with race, sexuality and gender from schools, an NBC News investigation has found. You should be able to see yourself reflected on the page." "And I'm sure it's really important to other queer kids.

"As I've struggled with my own identity as a queer person, it's been really, really important to me that I have access to these books," said the girl, whom NBC News is not naming to avoid revealing her sexuality. More from NBC News: Here are 50 books Texas parents want banned from school libraries Meet the moms of color from Texas fighting school book bans More than 12 HBCU campuses targeted in new round of bomb threats Personal Loans for 670 Credit Score or Lower Personal Loans for 580 Credit Score or Lower Best Debt Consolidation Loans for Bad Credit
