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PEN America: Nearly 12,000 school book bans in a year, a record high
Texas and Florida drove almost all of the record bans, while more than 4,500 titles were new to PEN America’s list.
- 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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The Times of Northwest Indiana+2 Reposted by 2 other sources
Schools banned nearly 12,000 books in 2025-2026
Public schools banned nearly 12,000 books in the 2025-2026 school year, according to new data from PEN America, marking the highest number since the organization began tracking book bans in 2021.
·Munster, United States
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Last school year, public schools across the United States banned a record 12,000 books, nearly doubling the number of banned titles from the previous year, when 6,870 books were banned.
·Ljubljana, Slovenia
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Book Bans Just Hit A Record High In The US, And I Bet You Can Guess Which States Led The Nation
“I will never understand why some people would rather remove a difficult story from a library than consider the possibility that... that story could help save a life."View Entire Post ›
·New York, United States
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources146
Leaning Left35Leaning Right11Center74Last UpdatedBias Distribution62% Center
Bias Distribution
- 62% of the sources are Center
62% Center
L 29%
C 62%
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