What Is a Book Ban? And More Frequently Asked Questions

PEN America defines a school book ban as any action taken against a book based on its cPEN America defines a school book ban as any action taken against a book based on its content and as a result of parent or community challenges, administrative decisions, or in response to direct or threatened action by lawmakers or other governmental officials, that leads to a book being either completely removed from availability to students, or where access to a book is restricted or diminished. Diminished access is a form of censorship and has educational implications that extend beyond a title’s removal. Accessibility forms the core of PEN America’s definition of a school book ban and emphasizes the multiple ways book bans infringe on the rights of students, professional educators, and authors. It is important to recognize that books available in schools, whether in a school or classroom library, or as part of a curriculum, were selected by librarians and educators as part of the educational offerings to students. Book bans occur when those choices are overridden by school boards, administrators, teachers, or politicians, on the basis of a particular book’s content. 

School book bans take varied forms, and can include prohibitions on books in libraries or classrooms, as well as a range of other restrictions, some of which may be temporary. For example, if a book that was previously available to all now requires parental permission, or is restricted to a higher grade level than educators initially determined, that is a ban. In some cases, books are removed from shelves for “review,” but not returned for weeks or months. If students cannot access the book, that is a ban. Book removals that follow established processes may still improperly target books on the basis of content pertaining to race, gender, or sexual orientation, invoking concerns of equal protection in education.

Since the fall of 2021, PEN America has counted almost 23,000 book bans in public schools across the country, targeting close to 10,000 unique titles. The full impact of the book ban movement is greater than can be counted, as “wholesale bans” in which entire classrooms and school libraries have been suspended, closed, or emptied of books, either permanently or temporarily, restricted access to untold numbers of books in classrooms and school libraries. Further, other types of censorship of books, such as author visit cancellations or librarian self-censorship of book purchases, is on the rise. Overwhelmingly, book banners target stories by and about people of color and LGBTQ+ people.

Again, it’s about access. 

School libraries play a vital role in keeping literature accessible to students. There is no guarantee that students will have easy or equitable access to books in other locations, have money to purchase a book, or even know a book exists. Many students in the United States attend schools without libraries or librarians, or, in districts without ready access to public libraries. Not all parents and families have the time or means to access public libraries, or to purchase books. This makes the ready availability of materials to students in both school and public libraries unique and consequential to American democracy. Efforts to censor or ban books have also spread to prisons, public libraries, and booksellers, belying the idea that current efforts to censor books are only focused on schools.

School libraries are places of voluntary inquiry – spaces that allow students and community members to explore a wide variety of viewpoints and interests at the pace and intention they choose. They provide a vital resource for educators, students, and parents in both supporting literacy and helping young people learn about the world. Public schools are part of the fabric of our democracy, and public school libraries have been recognized as demanding special First Amendment protection. This means that even if particular book titles can be accessed elsewhere, the restriction of them in libraries is nonetheless a potential infringement of students’ constitutional rights. As noted in Counts v. Cedarville School District, a 2003 U.S. federal district court decision: “The Supreme Court has held that ‘one is not to have the exercise of his liberty of expression in appropriate places abridged on the plea that it may be exercised in some other place.’” Ready access to ideas and information is a necessary predicate to the right to exercise freedom of meaningful speech, press, or political freedom in our democracy, for young people and adults alike.

PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans lists instances where students’ access to books in school libraries and classrooms in the United States is restricted or diminished for either limited or indefinite periods of time.

From 2021-2025, PEN America has tracked book ban cases across the nation. A ban case represents the banning of a title in a school district. Multiple copies of the book may be banned across schools in the district, but they will only be featured once as a ban case. Likewise, from 2021-2025, PEN America has tracked the banning of unique titles. If the same book is banned in 10 school districts, that would count as 10 bans, but one unique title. The banning of a single book title can mean anywhere from one to hundreds of copies are pulled from libraries or classrooms in a school district, and often, the same title is banned in libraries, classrooms, or both in a single district.

Instances of book bans are recorded based on publicly reported data, primarily sourced from local journalists, school district websites, school board minutes, public record requests, as well as organizational partners. Local efforts from district employees and advocacy partners supplement our data collection efforts. PEN America also collects direct reports of book challenges from across the country. Those reports are counted only if PEN America is able to independently confirm that a book was removed or restricted using other publicly recorded data.

First, the numbers documented represent cases of school book bans reported directly to PEN America and/or covered in the media. The data presented in our reports is not comprehensive, as there are likely additional school book bans that have not been reported. Further, it is important to note that books are also banned within public libraries and prisons, but those do not appear within this index.

Additionally, there has been a rise in forms of soft censorship, which occur when “materials are purposefully removed, limited, or never purchased at all despite it being a title that would serve a community.” Since 2021, there have been numerous accounts of quiet removals of books in libraries and classrooms by teachers and librarians. School districts have started issuing preemptive bans through “do not buy” lists, barring titles from ever entering their libraries. In certain districts, mentions of specific topics, such as gender fluidity, have been prohibited, leading to an increase in bans and self-censorship of  materials reflecting these themes. Soft censorship tactics can be difficult to monitor due to lack of reporting and information on these practices. Therefore,  PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans is best thought of as a minimum count of book banning trends. This is a similar conclusion to that of the American Library Association, which routinely estimates that its counts reflect only a portion of the true number of books banned in schools.

A book challenge is any attempt to restrict or remove a book based on objections to its content. A book ban is the removal or restriction of those materials, either permanently or under review. PEN America does not track challenges that do not result in book bans.

Organizations, including community groups and national organizations like ALA and PEN America, point to a continued attack on literature in schools and public libraries. The overarching conclusions are the same – a rise in the suppression of books across educational spaces. 

PEN America tracks trends of censorship across both public schools and public libraries, and provides robust tracking and data analysis on book bans in public schools.

A few state-based organizations, like Florida Freedom to Read Project, similarly track the book bans within their own state. 

The American Library Association’s research focuses on challenges filed against books and other materials in libraries, including both school and public libraries. A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict access to materials or services based upon the objections of an individual or group. As a result of different methodologies, we pick up on different trends. 

The National Coalition Against Censorship offers the Youth Censorship Database which includes book challenges in schools and libraries as well as censorship of student art, journalism, and other types of student expressions in schools.

PEN America does provide detailed tracking of public library bans and does not track challenges to books unless those challenges lead to a restriction or ban. PEN records a book ban as any instance of access being removed or restricted on a book; this can be short-term or permanent. Our guiding principle is access. Any time access to a book is restricted, that is a restriction on someone’s freedom to read.

PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans lists decisions to limit or diminish access to books, not instances where books are challenged. In response to challenges, however, books are frequently pulled from shelves during investigations, for limited or sometimes indefinite periods of time. This is counter to procedural best practices from the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and the American Library Association (ALA), which state that a book should remain in circulation while undergoing a reconsideration process. This is because, if schools suspend access to books in response to any challenge from any corner, it would render them incapable of serving students. A considered, due process is a more fair, democratic approach to challenges, which also safeguards students’ First Amendment rights. If a book is challenged and remains on the shelves during the review process, and is ultimately retained, access to the book has never changed, and that is not counted as a ban in the Index. If a book is challenged and the administration pulls it from the shelves or the school board orders it removed or restricted while under review, then it is counted in the Index as having been Banned Pending Investigation. Even if it is later returned to the shelves, it was effectively banned from students for the period it was under review.

In some cases individual schools or school districts opt to place some kind of restriction on a book title. When this is done in response to the content of the book, it can constitute a book ban, in that it reflects a decision to restrict or diminish access to a book from where it was previously accessible. This is different from regular acquisition processes where educators make determinations regarding which grade levels a book is appropriate for, or engage in processes of regular review of those decisions. If a grade-level restriction is placed on a book, this constitutes a ban on the book. Access has been restricted for those students to whom it was previously accessible (e.g. a book is restricted to a high school library, and effectively banned from the middle school library where it was previously accessible as determined by professional librarians and based on publishers’ age recommendations).

If a school district removes a book from its libraries and places it in a different space in the building (i.e., guidance counselor’s office or restricted shelving), then that constitutes a ban from libraries. If a school restricts a book only to an AP English classroom, when it was previously accessible in the library for all students, that too can constitute a ban on the book.

If a district mandates that students must acquire permission from parents to read or check out specific titles, then that constitutes a ban, as it restricts access for those to whom the book was previously accessible. This precise issue was taken up in Arkansas in Counts v. Cedarville School District (2003), where it was decided that mandating parental permission on specific book titles could have a “stigmatizing effect” on a student, and that even though it was a minimal infringement, “The loss of First Amendment rights, even minimally, is injurious.” Some students may also have an unsafe home environment, for whom accessing a particular book might offer an important lifeline, but in which case parental permission would not be an option. Part of the role of public schools is to serve precisely such students. Each of these restrictive policies can thus place undue burdens or unfair hurdles on how some students access literature in public schools.

In Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District v. Pico (1982), the Supreme Court stated: “Our Constitution does not permit the official suppression of ideas.” The ruling affirmed the “special characteristics” of the school library, making it “especially appropriate for the recognition of the First Amendment rights of students,” including the right to access information and ideas. The central holding of Pico, on page 872 of the decision, was “[L]ocal school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books and seek by their removal to prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion.” The Court further recognized that while school boards have “broad discretion in the management of school affairs,” including to take action due to books’ “educational suitability” or “pervasive” vulgarity, a board’s motivation should be demonstrated by the use of “established, regular, and facially unbiased procedures for the review of controversial materials.” The Court noted that the school board in Pico used a “highly irregular and ad hoc” removal process that ignored literary experts, district superintendent, librarians, and teachers, as well as guidance from book-rating publications.

In alignment with the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and American Library Association (ALA) have developed guidelines for handling formal complaints to school library collections, which are meant to safeguard students’ First Amendment rights by limiting the ability of community members of school boards to exercise content- or viewpoint-based censorship. They recommend that community members complete formal reconsideration requests in writing to school principals, and that schools form “reconsideration” committees, made up of teachers, librarians, school administrators, and members of the community, who will receive training in intellectual freedom and library policies, before they read, discuss, and collectively reevaluate the availability of a particular book in the school. ALA guidelines make clear that committee members are to “set aside their personal beliefs” and use objective standards, and that books are to remain in circulation until the process is complete and a final decision is made. They also provide guidance on how school-level committees should make initial decisions before they can be appealed to district-level committees, which would then be formed to continue to evaluate a book title’s availability. Finally, the district committee’s decision could be appealed to the school board for a final, district-wide determination. As the NCAC explains, these kinds of policies help “ensure decisions about instruction advance fundamental pedagogical goals and not subjective interests.”

While it is possible for such school-level or district-level “reconsideration” committees to decide to remove or restrict books, legal precedent and expert best practices demand that committee members, and principals, superintendents, and school boards act with the constitutional rights of students in mind, cognizant that it is better to allow access to literature for those who might want it than to eliminate that access for all based on the concerns of any individual or faction.In Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District v. Pico (1982), the Supreme Court stated: “Our Constitution does not permit the official suppression of ideas.” The ruling affirmed the “special characteristics” of the school library, making it “especially appropriate for the recognition of the First Amendment rights of students,” including the right to access information and ideas. The central holding of Pico was: “[L]ocal school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books and seek by their removal to prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion.” 

In alignment with the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and American Library Association (ALA) have developed guidelines for handling formal complaints to school library collections, which are meant to safeguard students’ First Amendment rights by limiting the ability of community members of school boards to exercise content or viewpoint-based censorship. They recommend that community members complete formal reconsideration requests in writing to school principals, and that schools form “reconsideration” committees, made up of teachers, librarians, school administrators, and members of the community, who will receive training in intellectual freedom and library policies, before they read, discuss, and collectively reevaluate the availability of a particular book in the school. ALA guidelines make clear that committee members are to “set aside their personal beliefs” and use objective standards, and that books are to remain in circulation until the process is complete and a final decision is made. As the NCAC explains, these kinds of policies help “ensure decisions about instruction advance fundamental pedagogical goals and not subjective interests.”

In regards to allegations of “pornographic” or “inappropriate” materials in school libraries, books banned in American schools do not fit the well-established legal and colloquial definitions of “pornography” or “indecency.” Material can only be deemed ‘obscene’ if it meets three criteria outlined in the Miller test, which asks if the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that a work taken as a whole. The Miller test should be an essential component of any book’s reconsideration process. . 

While it is possible for such school-level or district-level “reconsideration” committees to decide to remove or restrict books, legal precedent and expert best practices demand that committee members, and principals, superintendents, and school boards act with the constitutional rights of students in mind, cognizant that it is better to allow access to literature for those who might want it than to eliminate that access for all based on the concerns of any individual or faction.

Book banning has a long, global history. The tactic is frequently associated with authoritarian governments who have enacted society-wide bans on particular texts, such as occurred in Nazi Germany or apartheid South Africa. The United States has also previously banned the import or sale of particular texts, such as Ulysses by James Joyce and Howl by Allen Ginsberg. Although less extreme, there have been efforts to bar and restrict books in public schools going back decades, with notable flare-ups in the McCarthy era and the early 1980s. At various points throughout the 20th century, certain books have stirred controversy, with titles like Of Mice and Men and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings being some well-known examples. There have also been parallel efforts to pass state laws to prohibit and control what can be discussed in public schools and textbooks, most notably in the 1920s, with bans on the teaching of Darwin’s theory of evolution, and Reconstruction-era censorship of textbooks discussing race. These efforts mirror the significant wave of educational censorship we see today, including efforts to pass legislation that PEN America has called educational gag orders, and to enact book bans in schools. PEN America calls this the ‘Ed Scare,’ paralleling the ‘Red Scares’ which followed the First and Second World Wars.

Whereas past censorship in schools focused on particular topics, the ‘Ed Scare’ is also notable in the way it is increasingly focused on an evolving array of subjects, themes, and identities — including U.S. history, race and diversity, social emotional learning, LGBTQ+ identities, and sex education. This is also continuing to shape the kinds of books that are being targeted for removal in schools. While PEN America conducted a formal count of books banned for the first time in the 2021-2022 school year, our organization has fought back against book bans for decades. In prior years PEN America had typically encountered a handful of such cases each year, but since 2021, the scale and force of book banning in local communities is escalating dramatically. The book bans we’ve tracked since 2021 stand out for the scope and scale, occurring across dozens of states, with thousands of titles targeted, and the extent to which they have also been driven by political pressure and rhetoric from elected officials.

In 2016, PEN America published Missing from the Shelf: Book Challenges and Lack of Diversity in Children’s Literature, which described instances of ‘soft censorship’ taking place in schools and libraries in response to parents’ challenges of books. The report also highlighted the disproportionate targeting of books by or about people whose identities and stories have traditionally been underrepresented in children’s and young adult literature, such as people of color, LGBTQ+ people, or disabled people. Today, this remains a central focus of the movement to ban books.

Since 2021, a campaign has emerged in many parts of the United States to advocate for the censorship of books in public schools. This campaign is in part driven by politics, with state lawmakers and executive branch officials pushing for bans in some cases. Direct political pressure by politicians and other state officials, such as attorney generals, has led to book bans in countless districts. Legislation that fuels book bans has passed in increasing numbers since 2021, including laws that allow statewide book bans, target specific content, or criminalize librarians. Combined, political pressure and mandates have been tied to thousands of book bans across the country.

Another major factor driving this dramatic expansion of book banning has been the proliferation of organized efforts to advocate for book removals. Hundreds of organizations and groups involved in pushing for book bans have sprung up rapidly at the local and national levels, particularly since 2021. These range from local Facebook groups to national-level organizations. Broadly, this movement is intertwined with political movements that grew throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, including fights against mask mandates and virtual school, as well as disputes over “critical race theory” that in some states fueled the introduction of educational gag orders prohibiting discussion of “divisive” concepts in classrooms.

Many of these organizations, though not all, have espoused white supremacist and Christian Nationalist rhetoric. These varied groups involved do not all share identical aims, but they have found common cause in advancing an effort to control and limit what kinds of information is available in schools.

Over the past four years, a misleading campaign to “protect children” alongside advocacy for “parental rights” has been weaponized to diminish students’ First Amendment rights in schools, sow distrust in librarians and educators, and diminish the ability of authors and illustrators to connect with their intended audiences. 

Although “parents’ rights” is a powerful piece of political rhetoric, in most instances, it is being invoked to mean the rights of a particular group of parents with distinct ideological views to control public education, rather than a neutral effort to engage all parents and students in ensuring that schools uphold free speech rights.

Public schools by design rely on the expertise, ethics, and discretion of educational professionals to make decisions. Parents and guardians have historically had access to a role in their child’s education through things like “parent teacher nights,” school board meetings, and PTAs. In too many places, today’s political rhetoric of “parents’ rights” is being mobilized to undermine, intimidate, and chill the practices of these professionals, with profound impacts on how students learn and access ideas and information in schools.

Librarians and educators choose books for their literary and educational value. Books banned in American schools do not fit the well-established legal and colloquial definitions of “pornography” or “indecency.” Material can only be deemed ‘obscene’ if it meets three criteria outlined in the Miller test, including:

1. whether the average person applying contemporary community standards would find the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest;
2. whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law; and
3. whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.

Oftentimes, book banning groups use the idea of “porn in schools” as a scare tactic to play on parents’ fears and anxieties, when in reality, the books that have been targeted for removal in American public schools with few, if any, exceptions, would manifestly fail this test. Books should always be evaluated in their entirety, not judged by an illustration or passage taken out of context.