CV NEWS FEED // A library at a Texas high school contains over 200 books that concerned parents say contain sexually inappropriate content.
One of the parents is Bonnie Wallace, who is currently petitioning Llano High School to remove 207 explicit books from its library. Wallace’s child is a former Llano student.
Per a February 1 report from Texas Scorecard, the mother called the books “adult erotica.” She said that it is “mind boggling” that the school provides them for minor students to check out.
The Daily Signal on Friday published an email that Llano Principal Scott Patrick sent to Wallace last month.
In it, Patrick told the mother that a “reconsideration committee” will review one book at a time. The committee was to include an unspecified number of students at the school. The principal added that each review would take “roughly 30 days.”
Texas Scorecard stated that at this pace and limited to months during school years, “it will take more than 22 years to review” all of the books Wallace flagged.
In speaking with Llano officials, Wallace stressed that this “means that children who have not even been conceived yet, will have graduated from High School before you finish this list.”
The school on Friday decided to remove “Call Me by Your Name” by André Aciman, the first book for which Wallace submitted a “reconsideration request.”
The Daily Signal reported that the decision was made “exactly 30 days” after Patrick’s email explaining how long the process would take. The seven-member committee voted unanimously to remove the book.
Wallace stated that she was “delighted” by the decision. She deemed it “a small victory, but a victory nonetheless.”
Wallace also announced that the principal had told her the committee voting on the books would no longer include students. The mother called this development a “big victory.”
“It seems very stupid to place students on the book review committee to read a book filled with porn to determine if that porn-filled book is appropriate for underage students,” Wallace said.
“Parents should be able to send their children to Llano schools without worrying if they will be exposed to sexually explicit or pervasively vulgar content when they randomly browse a book off of the library shelf,” she added.
Earlier this year, Wallace had argued:
Minor students aren’t allowed to vote until 18, serve on a jury until 18, buy alcohol until 21, buy cigarettes until 21, or buy weapons until 18 or 21 depending on type, so why would they be included in the decision of whether porn-riddled books are appropriate for LHS?
Texas Scorecard wrote that the book “Call Me by Your Name”
features a 17 year-old-boy entering a sexual relationship with his father’s 24-year-old male graduate assistant. The book is rated for adults per the Llano High School Library.
>> HOUSE: BIDEN ADMIN PUSHES FOR EXPLICIT BOOKS IN SCHOOL LIBRARIES <<
The Daily Signal noted:
A Texas bill passed in June 2023, the READER Act, requires public schools to remove books that include material that is “sexually explicit, harmful, pervasively vulgar, or educationally unsuitable” from classrooms and libraries accessible to minors. The law reinforces existing Texas Education Agency policy forbidding schools from providing explicit materials to minors.
Texas Scorecard elaborated that the law’s “new standards were adopted on December 14 and apply to materials in all Texas public school libraries, classroom libraries, and online catalogs.”
In speaking with the news outlet, Wallace emphasized that her battle “is against sexual content.”
“These books satisfy the statute,” she said. “They’re pervasively vulgar and sexually explicit.”
