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Materials Reconsideration Process Materials Reconsideration Process Austin Public Library | Library Commission Meeting | May 18, 2026 Current Climate Nationally Current Climate Nationally • ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) tracked 4,235 unique titles challenged in 2025, the second highest ever documented by ALA. The highest ever documented was 4,240 in 2023. • Of the unique titles challenged in 2025, 1,671 (39%) represent the lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ people and people of color. Current Climate Nationally Current Climate Nationally • While school libraries faced the most attempts to censor voluntary reading material, public libraries continued to experience more overall censorship attempts than all other location types. (Note: This data includes challenges to displays, programs, and other resources.) 2025 Texas Legislative Bills 2025 Texas Legislative Bills Bill Effective Date Library Impact Summary SB 13 09/01/2025 School libraries 30-day public posting and board approval needed for new titles to collection SB 412 09/01/25 School & Public libraries Attempts to raise the threat of criminal prosecution for librarians and staff that HB 900 n/a School libraries October 2025: United States District Judge Alan De. Albright (US Western District) issued a permanent injunction against enforcement of the sections of the laws related to vendor ratings. APL's Current Climate APL's Current Climate Fall of 2022 – Present 5 requests for REMOVAL from collection 4 RETAINED & 1 RELEVEL 3 requests for RELEVEL from one section to another (ie. Youth to Adult) 1 RETAIN, 1 PENDING, 1 N/A • • APL's Current Collection APL's Current Collection Circulation Numbers New Print Acquisitions FY2025 (10/01/24-09/30/25) • Adult Print –1,447,368 • Youth Print – 2,273,923 • Total Print – 3,721,291 • Adult Digital – 3,676,939 • Youth Digital – 323,011 • Total Digital – 3,999,950 Reconsideration Request Procedures Reconsideration Request Procedures • A customer with an active Austin Public Library account in good standing can submit up to four request for reconsideration forms per month of any material(s) owned by the Austin Public Library. • We welcome input from the community and any titles in the collection may be reviewed once every two years. • Decisions made through the request for reconsideration process will be upheld for two years from the date of the response to the citizen. • The Request for Reconsideration form is available on SharePoint and will need to be filled out by the customer requesting the reconsideration and returned to a branch location or mailed. • Customer receives notification that request has been received & will be contacted once process is complete. • Item remains on shelf during the review process. Materials Reconsideration Committee Materials Reconsideration Committee • 2 community members* • 1 Library Commission member* • 2-3 APL Youth Librarians* • 2-3 APL Adult Librarians* • APL EDI Officer • Customer Access Division Manager – coordinator, non-voting role • *rolling positions MRC meets (in-person or virtually) to review the request, the item, and associated data and provides a recommendation to the Director regarding the material(s). 3 options – RETAIN / RELEVEL / REMOVE Resources Utilized in Review  Exhibit A, B, C (sample documents)  APL Reconsideration Procedures (internal)  APL Request for Reconsideration form (external)  American Library Association, Library Bill of Rights  APL's Materials Selection Policy  City of Austin's Freedom to Read Resolution, February 2022  The Whole-Community Library by Mark Smith/Tocker Foundation/Former Director of TSLAC/Former Chair of COA Library Commission  Peer Urban Library Systems 9 Programming & Support  Banned Books Week, October 4 – 10, 2026  Theme: “Let Books Be Protect the Freedom to Read.”  American Library Association  BannedBooksWeek.org  Pen America, The Freedom to Write  Texans for the Right to Read  Grassroots coalition of Texas Library Association 10 Programming & Support  APL Banned Bookclub Kits, Save the Books, sponsored by The Library Foundation 11 Questions? Christina Nelson, Branch Services Division Manger christina.nelson@austintexas.gov 12