San Marcos CISD schools will soon see changes to the books on their shelves. The board of trustees approved the purchase of 729 new materials and voted to retain 32 challenged titles at a Dec. 15 meeting.

What’s new

The School Library Advisory Council was established earlier this year after Senate Bill 13 passed in the 89th legislative session, which aims to give school boards and parents more oversight over library materials. The SMCISD board of trustees each appointed a member to the SLAC, according to Lacye Matejowsky, director of curriculum and instruction K-12.

Previously, librarians were able to purchase new materials at will throughout the year. The new process is as follows:
  • Librarians create a list of books they want to procure.
  • The SLAC reviews the list.
  • If no objections are made, the list is presented to the school board for the final decision.
Most of the new materials are elementary-level titles.

A closer look


In addition to making suggestions about book procurement, the SLAC can also weigh in on books that have been challenged. Once a book has been challenged, it's removed from shelves. If the school board votes to retain the titles, they are returned to shelves and cannot be challenged again for another two years. If they vote to remove a book, it will no longer available to students.

Most recently, members of the SLAC recommended that SMCISD officials should retain 32 challenged titles.

Some of the titles include:
  • "A Court of Thorns and Roses" by Sarah J. Maas
  • "Milk and Honey" by Rupi Kaur
  • "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
  • "The Handmaids Tale" by Margaret Atwood
  • "Wicked" by Gregory Macquire
A majority of the books that were challenged were high-school level; only two were available in middle schools.

What they’re saying


“I’m just expressing my displeasure in this process,” school board member John McGlothlin said in reference to the volume of books that the SLAC were expected to review and the board was expected to decide on.

“I don’t think it’s my job to read 729 books to determine whether or not they belong in [our] libraries,” school board President Anne Halsey said. “I think my job is to appoint the person to the committee that the state requires, and trust in the librarians as the professionals that they are, and the administrators ... and then to take their recommendation.”

What’s next?

The SLAC will meet again Feb. 3, according to the meeting schedule. Community members can provide feedback on the next list of recommended materials, which will be posted 30 days prior to the school board meeting Feb. 16.


For more information, visit www.smcisd.net.