Texas mom Bonnie Wallace says she has audited about 4,000 libraries and never found a clean one. She explains how she fought back, and how other parents can too.
Most parents have no idea what inappropriate books may be on the shelves of their child's school library. Bonnie Wallace says that's exactly the problem.
Wallace lives in Llano County, Texas, where a dispute over removing books from public library shelves led to a federal lawsuit. On The Family Policy Alliance Report, Grace Youngson talks with Wallace, who joins us with our state allyTexas Values, about what she's found in libraries and what parents can do about it.
Content note: This conversation includes descriptions of explicit and disturbing material. Parental discretion is advised.
With special thanks to Texas Values.
How the Llano County Library Fight Began
Wallace says she started hearing rumors about inappropriate books in her public library in 2021, and the only way to get people to understand was to show them the pages. She cross-checked a list of concerning titles against Llano County's libraries and gave her findings to the county commissioners and judge.
The removal of 17 books from the county's public library collection prompted seven residents to file a federal lawsuit in April 2022. In May 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed an earlier injunction requiring the books to be returned and dismissed the plaintiffs' First Amendment free speech claims.
Wallace is quick to explain her position. "We're not book burners. We're not book banners," she says. "What we do believe is book boundaries for children."
What Bonnie Says Is in School Libraries
Wallace says she has audited about 4,000 libraries and never found one without books she considers inappropriate. She keeps a list of more than 2,000 titles, which she says includes books with graphic sexual content, and she says many are labeled "young adult" even when they're written for 12-year-olds.
She also points to a comparison she says is striking: the Texas prison system doesn't allow many of these books, yet hundreds of them are in Texas schools. Her argument is about tax dollars, not whether adults can buy them. If a parent decides their child needs a particular book, she says, that parent can buy it.
"They are not guinea pigs," Wallace says of children. "They deserve our protection."
Escorted Out of a School Board Meeting
In March, Wallace says she was reading an excerpt from a book at a Houston school board meeting when the board chair gaveled her down. Three police officers escorted her out of the auditorium and to her car, she says.
Her point: The content was considered too inappropriate to read aloud at the meeting, yet the book remained available in school libraries.
How Parents Can Push Back
Wallace says she takes calls from parents across Texas, and her advice is practical:
- Audit your libraries. Find out what your school and public library actually have.
- Use the challenge process. Start with your district's procedures. In Texas, Wallace says certain challenges can be taken to the Texas Education Agency.
- Show up. Attend school board meetings, learn the public comment rules and make your concerns heard.
- Don't wait for rescue. "The cavalry is not coming to any community to save the children," she says. Parents have to do the work.
Texas Values and the Power of Local Action
Wallace says Texas Values, one of Family Policy Alliance's state partners, is "crucial in Texas politics." Whenever she visits the Capitol, she says, "on one floor or another, I'm going to find someone from the Texas Values team." It's "an honor to battle alongside them."
Anyone can call Texas Values to be connected with her, she says, and she will help.
That's why Family Policy Alliance partners with state-based groups across the country. If you're outside Texas, your Family Policy Council can connect you with local resources.
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Keep Fighting
Wallace closes with a challenge. Drawing on Joshua 1:9 ("Be strong and courageous"), she says courage isn't something you wait to feel. You decide to act, even when the work is hard.
"Keep fighting," she tells parents. Every one of us has a sphere of influence, she says, and all of us are called to do something.
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