Book Bans
PEN America tracks book bans and fights censorship in public schools and libraries across the country.
2025 RESEARCH REVEALS STAGGERING, CUMULATIVE TOLL OF BOOK BANS NATIONWIDE
Books are under profound attack in the United States. Our latest report, Banned in the USA: The Normalization of Book Banning, found that 6,870 books bans were enacted during the 2024-25 school year, across 23 states and 87 public school districts. And everywhere, it is the books that have long fought for a place on the shelf that are being targeted. Books by authors of color, by LGBTQ+ authors, by women. Books about racism, sexuality, gender, history. PEN America pushes back against censorship and the intolerance and exclusion that undergird it.
Banned book list 2026
PEN America has documented nearly 23,000 book bans in public schools nationwide since 2021, a number without precedent. Learn more about the dangerous mix of activist groups and vague legislation has led to this wave of censorship in our latest report.
PEN America is Suing Against Book Bans in TeNnessee
In April 2025, PEN America joined three students and their parents as plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit against the Rutherford County Board of Education, challenging book removals and restrictions that violate the First Amendment rights of students to receive information and of authors to free expression.
TAKE ACTION TO FIGHT BOOK BANS
Join PEN America and a coalition of education and rights organizations in fighting against censorship and book restrictions across the country. You can send letters to your elected officials, learn more about fighting bans in your community, even get some swag!
What you need to know:
PEN America recorded 6,870 instances of book bans in the 2024-2025 school year.
Bans were found in 23 states and 87 public school districts, with Florida and Texas leading in number of bans.
In the 2024-2025 school year, book bans affected the works of almost 2,600 artists, including 2,308 authors, 243 illustrators and 38 translators.
2024-2025 Instances of School Book Bans by State
Department of Defense Education Activity: 590 Bans
affecting schools in seven states, two territories, and 11 countries
Research & Resources
Learn more about PEN America’s research on book bans and find out how to fight back against book restrictions.
-
The Normalization of Book Banning
-
Best Picture Books of the Past 25 Years? Too Bad They’re Banned
-
The Blueprint State
-
Cover to Cover
-
Banned in the USA: Beyond the Shelves
-
Memo on School Book Bans from PEN America
-
PEN America Index of School Book Bans – 2022-2023
-
Banned in the USA: Narrating the Crisis
-
What Is a Book Ban? And More Frequently Asked Questions
Primer: The Latest on Book Bans
PEN America has documented thousands of book bans since 2021, when the scope of censorship expanded dramatically, tied to directives from elected officials & pressure from local groups. Hear from our book ban expert, Kasey Meehan.
Latest Blogs & Commentary
-
More Books, Less Fear: Utah Stands Up for the Right to Read
-
Ibram X. Kendi Has Received a Lot of Hate. His New Book on Authoritarianism Helped Him Realize It Was Never Personal.
-
Obamas, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush Among 1,500 Books Banned in Texas School District
-
‘Essential for My Career’: Six Authors Explain Why They Need Their Books on Library Shelves
-
‘We Couldn’t Say the Title’: Darcie Little Badger on the Words Banned at a Utah University
-
Author Darcie Little Badger Shows That One Person Standing Up To Censorship Can Make a Difference
Join the fight against book removals, restrictions, and bans across the U.S. Support PEN America and stand with banned authors, beleaguered librarians and embattled educators.