Socorro ISD staff outline procedures under Texas Senate Bill 13 for approving library and classroom materials

At a Sept. 8 board workshop, Marcy Sparks, library services coordinator for Socorro Independent School District, briefed trustees on changes required by Texas Senate Bill 13 for school library and classroom materials.

Sparks told the board the new law requires the board to approve all books purchased for school libraries and classroom libraries, and that the district will post recommended lists on its website for a 30-day public review before bringing them to the board. She said librarians will provide the board with community feedback the Friday before board meetings so trustees can review comments separately from the recommended lists.

Sparks described the district’s selection practices: librarians consult professional review sources and curriculum standards (TEKS), consider reading level and likely appeal, and perform "weeding" to withdraw outdated or damaged materials. She said the district recorded about 470,000 library checkouts last year, added almost 10,000 unique titles and withdrew about 28,000 items; as of early August 2025 the district had recorded 55,057 checkouts in the year to date.

On challenges and parental remedies, Sparks said an informal campus-level process remains available but a TEA challenge form and a formal committee review are now part of the district’s process. She said the new law requires that, when a material is formally challenged, the material cannot remain available while the challenge is pending, and that a successful district-level restriction must be communicated to affected campuses. Sparks said that if the district retains a challenged title after review, that title cannot be challenged again for two years under EFB policy.

Sparks demonstrated a new guardian portal tied to the district OPAC (online public access catalog) that lets parents view library holdings, save lists and create a per-child "prohibited book" list; when a child attempts to check out a prohibited title the system will block the checkout and notify staff. She said the portal and related features were piloted in August and the district aims to offer training and public rollout beginning in October and at open-house nights.

Trustees asked staff for highlights that might flag potentially controversial items on recommended lists (for example, titles that already appear on national "most challenged" lists or contain graphic material). Sparks said the district can add markers for titles already challenged elsewhere and will aim to flag items that could prompt strong parent feedback. Board members and staff emphasized outreach and an educational campaign so parents know how to use new tools.

Sparks and trustees also reviewed operational details: librarians must be certified (bachelor’s degree, teaching certificate, two years classroom teaching, master's and library certification), the district maintains a librarian at each of its 47 campuses and a small central team, and librarians will continue to follow updated acquisition procedures and consult feeder-pattern representatives for collection development.