Nationwide, PEN America counted nearly 12,000 bans, a record annual total affecting more than 7,000 distinct titles and 4,000 authors. Those figures count bans, so the same title can be counted in multiple schools or districts.
Texas recorded 8,100 public-school book bans during the 2025-2026 school year, taking the top spot after Florida had led for 3 years. Florida ranked 2nd with more than 3,200 bans.
PEN America linked the increase to new state censorship laws, including a Texas law restricting broad categories of books. The organization said vague rules and pressure from politicians can lead districts to remove books beyond what the laws require. AI tools can reinforce the pattern by flagging titles already banned elsewhere.
“Unsure how to comply, districts are removing books en masse, sometimes with the ‘help’ of crude AI tools that only make the problem worse,” said Philomena Polefrone, a senior manager in PEN America’s Freedom to Read program.
Thousands of cases came to light through public information requests made by Florida Freedom to Read and Texas Freedom to Read, Polefrone said. Taxpayer-funded books can disappear from school shelves without local communities knowing they’ve been removed.
Fiction accounted for more than 90% of the banned books, with young adult books and manga among the affected categories. Stephen King was the most banned author for the 2nd consecutive year.
Patricia McCormick’s Sold tells the story of a teenager from Nepal who’s sold into sexual slavery. The 2006 National Book Award finalist was the title banned most often.
“Schools should be doing everything possible to connect kids with reading by introducing them to engaging stories and formats,” said Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read program.
Stay in the loop with Thought Catalog — follow us on Facebook or visit our website.
0 Comments