iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Laney Hawes @laneyhawes.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

And we’ll continue to fight for librarians, for our kids, our communities and for the freedom to read. ❤️📚

Reposted by Laney Hawes

Frank Strong @frankstrong.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

This is Texas State Rep Hillary Hickland last night in response to my post yesterday about Lonesome Dove being removed from schools due to Senate Bill 13. Texans are sick of this anti-book nonsense. Today’s a great day to donate to her opponent: www.ameliafortexas.com

Post on Twitter from Texas State Representative Hillary Hickland that says, “Don’t overlook what’s happening here: adults actively seeking to sexualize other people’s children. Texas is an anti-gr00mer state.”

1551636455

Reposted by Laney Hawes

Texas Freedom to Read Project @txfreedomread.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

🚨Deer Park ISD: Show up and speak up for your school libraries and students’ freedom to read on Monday, April 27. Don’t let TX House Rep Briscoe Cain and his entitled “demands” to ban school library books he doesn’t like, be the only voice your board hears.

Screen shot of an X post by Briscoe Cain calling for speakers at Monday’s Deer Park ISD meeting who support the removal of 4 library books

11713

Reposted by Laney Hawes

Leila Green Little @ifightforbooks.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

PRH v Gibson, 11th circuit It’s worth a listen.

063

Reposted by Laney Hawes

Texas Freedom to Read Project @txfreedomread.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

What’s happening to New Braunfels ISD school libraries is NOT “normal.” Do not allow yourself to become desensitized to censorship. Take action to defend the freedom to read in your community, now! www.ksat.com/news/local/2...

ksat.com

Records show New Braunfels ISD pulling, restricting more books than it has publicly listed

Presidential memoirs, the Three Musketeers, and even Guinness World Records have been pulled from New Braunfels ISD library shelves in the face of a new state law, according to records obtained by a T...

02215

Reposted by Laney Hawes

Texas Freedom to Read Project @txfreedomread.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

We’ve submitted hundreds of PIRs & what we're finding isn't surprising. We repeatedly warned the TX legislature that these laws would cause significant harm. But we're never not astounded at the stupidity of what's being removed from libraries. We'll be sharing our findings over the coming months.

02314

Reposted by Laney Hawes

Texas Freedom to Read Project @txfreedomread.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

As of February 2026, New Braunfels ISD has permanently removed more than 600 books from its high schools in response to Senate Bill 13. Additionally, over 800 books have been removed from district middle schools and aged up to the high schools. www.txftrp.org/new_braunfel...

txftrp.org

New Braunfels ISD bans 600+ books, ages up 800+ titles using AI & overly-restrictive selection criteria.

Lonesome Dove, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Guinness World Records & The Three Musketeers among hundreds of books removed from school library collections.

32417

Reposted by Laney Hawes

PEN America @penamerica.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

According to lists obtained through public information requests by the Texas Freedom to Read Project, the New Braunfels ISD, a suburban school district nestled in the Texas Hill Country, has banned 1,500 books since June 1, 2025. pen.org/1500-books-b...

pen.org

Obamas, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush Among 1,500 Books Banned in Texas School District

Barack and Michelle Obama have joined the ranks of banned authors thanks to a sweeping ban of 1,500 books from Texas Hill Country.

23428

Reposted by Laney Hawes

Ryan Estrada @ryanestrada.com · 11/03/2026

This is a shocking report from @txfreedomread.bsky.social. This district is just letting AI make random guesses at what books to ban, and since AI can't actually read or interpret books, it's just flagging any book not specifically listed as a kids book, even if they used to be required reading.

Texas School districts are letting AI ban their books! Examples include 20,000 Leaugues Under The Sea, The Jungle Book, The Call of the WIld, Hamlet, Great Expectations, Les Miserables, The Oddyssey, Romeo and Juliet, Sherlock Holmes, Around The World in 80 Days, The Three Musketeers, The Brothers Grimm.

67045

Reposted by Laney Hawes

Leila Green Little @ifightforbooks.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

“Our school boards and state leaders need to wake up and stop trying to suppress our freedom.” Seconded, @laneyhawes.bsky.social at @txfreedomread.bsky.social!!

0116

Laney Hawes @laneyhawes.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Remember how we warned everyone in Texas that SB13 was an unworkable disaster and was going to decimate libraries and harm students? It was never “just about protecting students.” It’s culture wars and limiting access to ideas. And this is so stupid. ⬇️

023

Reposted by Laney Hawes

Amy Hermon @slupodcast.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

What does this title have to do with #bookbanning strategies??? Tune in tomorrow to #Episode 356 and my conversation with @laneyhawes.bsky.social of TX Freedom to Read Project.

0135

Laney Hawes @laneyhawes.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

At my polling place in Tarrant County,Texas. No line for the Republicans, but a very long line for the Democrats. Normally it’s the opposite here in Texas. 🌊

221

Laney Hawes @laneyhawes.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

Hey Ted Cruz, is this you? And your amicus brief defending Texas’s mid-decade redistricting? Why so worked up about Virginia’s redistricting?

131

Laney Hawes @laneyhawes.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Best political text I’ve ever received! Alisa Simmons for Tarrant County is coming in hot w/the memes. I’ve never been more excited to vote for someone. She’s brilliant and spoke up for my community when no one else would! And yes, Tim O’Hare is THIS bad. He’s destroying the community.

030

Reposted by Laney Hawes

Laney Hawes @laneyhawes.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

The TX GOP isn’t handling the Tarrant Co. loss very well. 😳 Hey Aaron Reitz (running for AG) we don’t hate you, your skin color, or this country. And we definitely don’t have a bloodlust to destroy you. We just hate some of your policies & we REALLY hate this divisive rhetoric.

041

Laney Hawes @laneyhawes.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

041

Laney Hawes @laneyhawes.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

If we want to defeat the extremist MAGA agenda (which isn’t “conservative”) nationwide, we have to work hard at the grassroots level. Leigh Wambsganns became the community villain b/c we worked hard to let everyone know what she was doing. And Greg Abbott’s unpopular vouchers really helped us too.

010

Reposted by Laney Hawes

Laney Hawes @laneyhawes.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

To everyone following the TXSD9 race & wondering how we did it. We’ve had a perfect storm brewing to break the MAGA stronghold. They went too far & screwed their own base base. Listen to this podcast episode of the 817 Podcast to hear the story of what happened & how we fought. m.youtube.com/watch?v

1177

Laney Hawes @laneyhawes.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

Do you want to know what really brought Dems & Reps together here in Tarrant County to vote against Leigh Wambsganns? Public Education. Patriot Mobile & Greg Abbott & The Tarrant County GOP tried to screw over our kids & all of us moms & dads met at school board meetings & said NO MORE!

3347

Laney Hawes @laneyhawes.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

November special election & tonight’s TX runoff side by side. Nearly 20,000 GOP voters who showed up for Huffman in Nov.couldn’t stomach self professed Ultra MAGATrump loyalist Leigh Wambsganns. They stayed home. Trump & MAGA policies are wildly unpopular, even among conservatives! 🌊

192

Laney Hawes @laneyhawes.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

I cannot tell you how hard we’ve worked in NE Tarrant County over the last three years to show our community how terrible Leigh Wambsganns, Tim Ohare, Tim Davis, & all their “gop” cronies are for this community. They never have and they never will represent us. They represent their egos & $$.

1103

Laney Hawes @laneyhawes.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

How long until Trump fires Noem or Bovino?

030

Reposted by Laney Hawes

Texas Freedom to Read Project @txfreedomread.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

🚨Call to Action, Texans we need your voices! 🚨TEA & The SBOE want to mandate what all TX school children MUST read, and the book list is out of touch with TX students & families. It was clearly created to stifle certain ideas & voices & funnel students toward a narrow tightly controlled worldview.

1119

Laney Hawes @laneyhawes.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

Looks like cpac and newsmax are trying to put the @theonion.com out of business.

010

Reposted by Laney Hawes

Laney Hawes @laneyhawes.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

Trump pardoned former Honduran Pres.Juan Hernandez who just began a 45 yr. prison sentence for bringing 400 TONS of COCAINE into the US. He was at the center of one of the largest & most violent drug-trafficking operations in the world. Found guilty by a jury of US citizens. Is this America first?

021

Laney Hawes @laneyhawes.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

021

Laney Hawes @laneyhawes.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

There should be a “Facebook marketplace index” that measures presidential approval trends. Because North Texas is showing signs of a tanking MAGA movement! 🧵

151

Laney Hawes @laneyhawes.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

Anyone know what “permanently pause,” means?

020

Reposted by Laney Hawes

Governor Gavin Newsom @governor.ca.gov · 26/11/2025

There must be zero tolerance for violence — of any kind — against the brave men and women in uniform who selflessly serve our communities and our country. The shooting of National Guard members in Washington, D.C. is horrific and unacceptable.

486107072054

Reposted by Laney Hawes

Joshua Reed Eakle 🗽 @joshuaeakle.com · 26/11/2025

If telling the troops not to follow illegal orders is “sedition,” what do we call colluding with the Kremlin to manipulate the U.S. President into advancing Russian interests over America’s?

744176974879

Reposted by Laney Hawes

Texas Freedom to Read Project @txfreedomread.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

This is NOT normal. It's weird to read a book about a unicorn sitting in paint & make it sexual. The hyper-fixation on non existent genitals & sexualizing benign stories is harmful. The book isn't sexualizing unicorns or kids, the women on the committee are. THIS IS NOT HEALTHY.

15412

Reposted by Laney Hawes

Texas Freedom to Read Project @txfreedomread.bsky.social · 23/11/2025

We know him!!!! 🤩🤩🤩 So proud of our cofounder, @frankstrong.bsky.social

1182

Laney Hawes @laneyhawes.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

Loving that she hasn’t deleted this & it’s just over on Twitter thriving this week.

021

Reposted by Laney Hawes

Richard Price (they/them) @advincensorship.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

As a censorship scholar, I'm seen it all before so nothing truly surprises me. But this is still pretty amazing.

142

Reposted by Laney Hawes

Shannon Hale @shannonhale.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

Both male and female horses have eyelashes. Unicorns don't exist so this can't be scientifically verified. Valiant use of taxpayer money to micromanage the acceptable eyelash representation of fictional animals.

49323

Reposted by Laney Hawes

Laney Hawes @laneyhawes.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

What gets me the most in this story is the gall of this woman to think she gets to come in & make this decision for every child in the district. And Sen. Angela Paxton & Dan Patrick call this stuff a win for parents rights as if 1 parent didn’t just take away the “rights” of 8000 other parents.

052

Reposted by Laney Hawes

Martha Hickson @sassylibrarian.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

Shannon Hale’s response to Unicorn Eyelashgate is 👩‍🍳💋 This situation demands the John Oliver treatment @lastweektonight.com

041

Laney Hawes @laneyhawes.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

052

Reposted by Laney Hawes

Mike Stabile @mikestabile.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

In Texas, a new law has redefined “parental rights” to mean that a single parent now has the right to remove a book from libraries district wide because the the story of a boy unicorn with eyelashes offends them.

27731

Reposted by Laney Hawes

Martha Hickson @sassylibrarian.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

This thread is a MUST READ. Nothing I have read since 2021 better captures the complete insanity of the “parents rights” book-banning movement than the need to protect kids from unicorn eyelashes.

14016

Reposted by Laney Hawes

Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

I once had a fight with my publisher's lawyer over what constitutes "fair use." He said reprinting 4 lines of a poem without the poet's explicit permission was too much. But AI gobbling up whole books now counts as "fair use." Something is definitely wrong with US copyright law.

wapo.st

Federal court says copyrighted books are fair use for AI training

Anthropic didn’t break the law when it trained its chatbot with copyrighted books, a judge said, but it must go to trial for allegedly using pirated books.

361294381

Laney Hawes @laneyhawes.bsky.social · 20/04/2025

Hate, lies, & divisiveness couched comfortably between scripture & Jesus Christ seem to perfectly capture the essence of the MAGA movement in this country.💔😢 "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain." Exodus 20:7