Texas Files Notice of Appeal in Book People v. Wong Following Judge Albright’s ruling granting us a permanent injunction against parts of HB 900, the State filed a notice of appeal to the Fifth Circuit Appellate Court. We will update you with more details as we are able. Election Roundup: A Good Night for the Freedom to Read In local and state races, November 4, 2025, was a good night for the freedom to read. Results are still coming in as of Wednesday morning, but here are some of the results with implications for book bans: - Pennsylvania: The Central Bucks and Pennridge school districts have been book censorship hotbeds in Pennsylvania, but voters have had enough. Most of the school board members supporting that platform have been ousted as of this morning.
- Texas: Multiple school board elections indicated a statewide repudiation of book bans and special interests in Texas schools. School districts in Fort Bend, Katy, Grapevine-Colleyville, and Mansfield appear to have rejected school board members or candidates who have banned books or were likely to. Senate District 9, in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area, is headed to a runoff after Taylor Rehmet led (but did not attain a majority) against Leigh Wambsganss, who has been vocal in her support for book bans.
- Virginia: The gubernatorial win by Abigail Spanberger will likely open new possibilities to protect the freedom to read in a state that has seen its share of book bans. Of particular note is the win by Lt. Governor-elect and former state senator Ghazala Hashmi, who has been an outspoken advocate for the freedom to read. Here she is on The Stacks podcast talking about book bans and the law (and shoutout to Loyalty Bookstore’s Hannah Oliver Depp, who appears on the same episode!).
Massachusetts: Freedom to Read Postcard Campaign As part of the Mass Freedom to Read coalition, we are helping connect bookstores with materials for a postcard campaign supporting freedom to read legislation (H.3594/S.2328). If you would like to receive physical postcards that your customers can use to write to their state legislators while in your store, email [email protected] and we can connect you to local organizers who are distributing them. |
