Latest PEN America Report Finds “Disturbing Normalization” of Book Bans in Public Schools; Nearly 23,000 Cases of Book Bans Across 45 States and 451 School Districts Since 2021
In a new report documenting public school book bans over the 2024-2025 school year, PEN America cites alarming censorship pressures on school districts including: new federal efforts to restrict education that amplify rhetoric from state and local efforts to ban books; persistent attacks conflating LGBTQ+ identities as “sexually explicit;” and state-mandated bans or “no read” lists which prohibit specific titles statewide.
“Censorship pressures have expanded and escalated, taking on different forms – laws, directives, guidance that sow confusion, lists of books mislabeled as ‘explicit’ materials, and ‘do not buy’ lists,” said Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read program, “A disturbing ‘everyday banning’ and normalization of censorship has worsened and spread over the last four years. The result is unprecedented.”
This unfettered book banning is reminiscent of the Red Scare of the 1950s while the report notes: “Never before in the life of any living American have so many books been systematically removed from school libraries across the country.”
Between July 2024 and June 2025, the fourth school year of the book ban crisis nationwide, PEN America counted 6,870 instances of book bans across 23 states and 87 public school districts.. For the third straight year, Florida was the No. 1 state for book bans, with 2,304 instances of bans, followed by Texas with 1,781 bans and Tennessee with 1,622. Together, PEN America reports nearly 23,000 cases of book bans across 45 states and 451 public school districts since 2021.
Source: PEN America
“No book shelf will be left untouched if local and state book bans continue wreaking havoc on the freedom to read in public schools,” said Sabrina Baêta, senior manager of PEN America’s Freedom to Read program. “With the Trump White House now also driving a clear culture of censorship, our core principles of free speech, open inquiry, and access to diverse and inclusive books are severely at risk. Book bans stand in the way of a more just, informed and equitable world. They chill the freedom to read and restrict the rights of students to access information and read freely.”
The report said these pernicious censorship trends are sabotaging the basic values of public education as district after district respond by removing books targeted by extremist groups who take anti-woke, anti-DEI, and anti-LGBTQ+ stances. Educators and school boards comply out of fear of losing funding, being fired or harassed, even being subjected to police involvement. This is especially true with state laws that are purposefully vague and instill fear and apprehension.
Source: PEN America
The top five banned books for the school year were: A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess with 23 bans; Sold by Patricia McCormick and Breathless by Jennifer Niven with 20 bans each; Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo with 19 bans and A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas with 18 bans.
Book bans continue to have a direct impact on a wide group of creative professionals in the literary sector. Throughout the 2024-2025 school year, book bans affected the works of almost 2,600 individuals, including 2,308 authors, 243 illustrators and 38 translators. The books that continue to be most frequently targeted typically contain themes related to race and racism, gender identity and sexuality, or depict sexual violence.
Stephen King, the bestselling horror, suspense and science fiction author, was the most banned author during the school year. Eighty-seven titles of King’s were banned, totaling 206 times. The next most banned author was Ellen Hopkins, author of young adult fiction including Crank, Burned, Impulse and Glass, who had 18 titles banned totaling 167 times. The top five banned authors also include Sarah J. Maas, the fantasy author known for her series Throne of Glass, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Crescent City, with 21 titles banned, totaling 162 times and Jodi Picoult, also a bestselling author who had 23 titles banned totaling 62 times. For the first time the top banned creators included popular Japanese manga artist Yūsei Matsui, whose 22 manga books in the Assassination Classroom series were banned a total of 54 times.
Four years into the contemporary book banning crisis, many communities and educators have been conditioned to expect book challenges and bans as part of the U.S. education system. However, public perceptions of book bans remain unchanged – most Americans oppose efforts to restrict books in public schools – and opposition to restrictions on the freedom to read are loud and growing. Coalitions of national, state, and local freedom to read advocates are raising awareness and organizing to push back on book bans, uplifting the need to protect and defend the freedom to read.
By publishing the report in advance of National Banned Books Week from October 5-11, PEN America hopes to ballast a strong defense of free speech and the freedom to read. The organization is encouraging readers, writers and the wider public to join students, parents, and librarians in speaking out on October 11 for Let Freedom Read Day – and continuing to speak out so that students can access stories that reflect their lives and those around them.
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area.
He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
In a new report documenting public school book bans over the 2024-2025 school year, PEN America cites alarming censorship pressures on school districts including: new federal efforts to restrict education that amplify rhetoric from state and local efforts to ban books; persistent attacks conflating LGBTQ+ identities as “sexually explicit;” and state-mandated bans or “no read” lists which prohibit specific titles statewide.
