PEN America counts record of nearly 12,000 school book bans
PEN America says U.S. public schools banned books nearly 12,000 times in the 2025-26 school year, a record. Texas passed Florida with more than 8,100 bans. Supporters of the removals say parents should decide what children read, and critics of PEN say it counts too many books as banned.
Public schools in the U.S. banned books nearly 12,000 times in the 2025-26 school year, the most ever recorded, the free-speech group PEN America said Monday. That brings the group's count to about 34,000 bans since 2021.
Texas led the nation this year with more than 8,100 bans. PEN ties the jump to a new state law, Senate Bill 13, which gives parents more say over school library books. Florida, which led for the past three years, had more than 3,200.
The bans reached a wide range of books. PEN counted more than 7,000 different titles by more than 4,000 authors, illustrators and translators, in 114 school districts. The group says some districts used artificial intelligence tools to flag books for mass removal. Japanese manga was hit hard.
The most banned book was "Sold" by Patricia McCormick, a novel about a girl trafficked from Nepal. Stephen King was the most banned author for the second year in a row, AP reports.
Not everyone accepts PEN's numbers or framing. In a 2023 Washington Examiner op-ed, Republican Reps. Virginia Foxx and Aaron Bean argued that PEN counts books as "banned" even when they were only challenged or pulled for review and later returned. They said parents, not national groups, should decide which books belong in school libraries.
Fights over school books grew sharply after 2021. Many disputes involve books about race, gender and sexuality. Supporters of the rules say they keep explicit material away from children. Opponents say they limit what students can learn and read.
PEN released the report for Banned Books Week. Its full report, with details by state, is posted on pen.org.
What we know: PEN counted a record number of school book bans, led by Texas.
What we don't: How many of the books were later returned to shelves.
Where outlets agree PEN America and AP, carried by The Washington Post, both report nearly 12,000 school book bans in 2025-26, with Stephen King the most banned author.
Where they differ PEN calls the removals censorship, while Republican critics say many counted titles were only challenged or reviewed and that parents should decide.