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Book Bans Continue to Spread
22,810
The total count of school book bans from 2021 through 2025
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.
In 2025, book censorship in the United States is rampant and common. Never before in the life of any living American have so many books been systematically removed from school libraries across the country. Never before have so many states passed laws or regulations to facilitate the banning of books, including bans on specific titles statewide. Never before have so many politicians sought to bully school leaders into censoring according to their ideological preferences, even threatening public funding to exact compliance. Never before has access to so many stories been stolen from so many children.
PEN America works to ensure that people everywhere have the freedom to create literature, to convey information and ideas, to express their views, and to access the views, ideas, and literatures of others. Stand with writers, journalists, artists, and educators across America.
Help us continue to champion the freedom to write and celebrate essential voices of literature by making an online donation today, becoming a Member, making a gift in honor of a loved one, leaving a legacy gift, or supporting one of our signature events.