School Districts Across the US Banned a Record Number of Books During the 2025-26 School Year, Report Says
PEN America said 114 districts imposed bans as state laws, advocacy pressure and AI tools helped drive removals of young-adult and fiction titles.
- PEN America reported nearly 12,000 book removals from public schools during the 2025-26 school year, marking the highest number of recorded bans since the organization began tracking the issue in 2021.
- Texas recorded 8,100 public-school book bans during the 2025-2026 school year, taking the top spot after Florida had led for three years. State laws are linked to 72 percent of district removals.
- Japanese manga and graphic novels are increasingly targeted, with works by Hajime Isayama frequently removed. Books featuring LGBTQ characters, discussions of race, and sexually themed content are disproportionately targeted across all removals.
- Supporters argue schools should review materials for age appropriateness, while PEN America says such bans "impede the freedom to read." Illinois Democratic Governor Pritzker has emerged as a vocal opponent of censorship campaigns.
- PEN America warns of a "snowball effect" where bans could spread between districts based on previous challenges rather than independent reviews. This escalation fuels a wider national debate over parental rights and free expression in American education.
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University of Toledo professor warns of growing book bans, censorship
Efforts to ban books in schools and libraries are becoming increasingly common, threatening access to stories and perspectives that help people understand the world, a University of Toledo professor said Thursday.
Nearly All of the Record 12,000 Books Banned This Year Were in Texas and Florida
Public schools banned nearly 12,000 books during the 2025-2026 school year, according to a new report released from PEN America, a group dedicated to freedom of expression for writers. That represents the highest number of bans in a single year since PEN started tracking them in 2021.The 11,982 bans represented over 7,000 unique books — also a record number of titles prohibited in one year. Over 4,500 of the titles this year were brand new to PE…
Public schools banned a record 12,000 books this year. Most were in Texas and Florida
Public schools banned nearly 12,000 books during the 2025-2026 school year, according to a new report released from PEN America, a group dedicated to freedom of expression for writers. That represents the highest number of bans in a single year since PEN started tracking them in 2021.The 11,982 bans represented over 7,000 unique books — also a record number of titles prohibited in one year. Over 4,500 of the titles this year were brand new to PE…
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