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Book Lovers Stage Read-In at State Capitol for ‘Let Utah Read’
PEN America was among the organizers of the protest against a rise in book bans in Utah. More
New Year New Books 2023: Celebrating and Defending the Written Word
For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, we gathered with more than 200 PEN America supporters and book lovers at our annual New Year New Books Party at… More
Restricted Access: The American History of Book Banning
Censorship and book bans are nothing new in American life. In the 19th century, it was the federal Comstock laws barring the delivery and distribution of “every obscene, lewd,… More
Good News that Wentzville School District Returns 200 Temporarily Banned Books to Shelves But PEN America Raises Concern that 17 Removed Books Are Still Inaccessible
“When legislation and threats of criminalization are enacted without guidelines, what we see are librarians and school officials operating out of fear and excess caution,” said Kasey Meehan, program… More
The 10 Most Banned Books of the 2021-2022 School Year
These were the 10 most banned books in the 2021-2022 school year, according to PEN America's Banned Book Index. More
These 176 Books Were Banned in Duval County, Florida
PEN America presented a joint letter with We Need Diverse Books and authors and illustrators of 176 books removed from classrooms in Duval County, Florida, in January 2022 for… More
Letter to Duval County, FL Schools from PEN America and We Need Diverse Books— Signed by 70 Authors—Calls for Return of 176 Book Titles Pulled from Classroom Libraries
(NEW YORK)—In a letter sent to Duval County Public Schools in Florida, PEN America and We Need Diverse Books, along with 70 authors, questioned the removal of 176 book… More
PEN America Finds Missouri Schools Banned Nearly 300 Books Since August, in Response to New Law Criminalizing “Explicit Sexual Material”
The letter reminds school district officials that, “Book bans limit opportunities for students to see themselves in literature and to build empathy for experiences different from their own. They… More
What Is a Book Ban? And More Frequently Asked Questions
What is a book ban? How is a book ban different from a challenge? What is the history of book bans? We answer frequently asked questions about book bans. More
Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Censor Books in Schools
“More” is the operative word for this report on school book bans, which offers the first comprehensive look at bans throughout the 2021–22 school year. More