A Tip Sheet for Librarians Facing Harassment
This guide will help librarians mobilize and respond when there are campaigns to remove their books from their shelves that devolve into harassment. More
New Report: 2,500+ Book Bans Across 32 States During 2021-22 School Year
“While we think of book bans as the work of individual concerned citizens, our report demonstrates that today's wave of bans represents a coordinated campaign to banish books being… More
Book Banning In Walton County Based On Misleading “Porn In Schools Report” Illustrates Alarming Influence Of Fringe Groups On Educational Censorship
School districts like Walton are letting bigoted, unfounded claims dictate access to literature for all Last week, reports circulated that Walton County School District in Florida decided to remove a… More
Banned in the USA: Rising School Book Bans Threaten Free Expression and Students’ First Amendment Rights (April 2022)
PEN America has collated an Index of School Book Bans, offering a snapshot of the trend of decisions to ban books in school libraries and classrooms in the United… More
Report: 1,586 School Book Bans and Restrictions in 86 School Districts Across 26 States
Book bans have targeted 1,145 unique book titles by 874 different authors, 198 illustrators, and 9 translators, impacting the literary, scholarly, and creative work of 1,081 people altogether. Texas… More
These 4 Florida Bills Censor Classroom Subjects and Ideas
These bills have been the subject of much public commentary, including an unfortunate amount of misinformation. To cut through the confusion, PEN America explains below the salient features of… More
Florida Bill Would Let Parents and Citizens Challenge Any Book Used in Schools
"HB 1467 has been touted as a measure to increase school transparency," said Jonathan Friedman, director of PEN America's Free Expression and Education program, "but the real aim is… More
Free Expression and LGBTQ+ Advocates Hold Media Briefing 2/14 on Florida ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill
On Monday, February 14 at 10:00 a.m. ET, PEN America will convene a virtual media briefing of LGBTQ+ and free speech advocates to discuss the “Don’t Say Gay” bill… More
PEN America Calls Restriction of 400 Books in Texas Predictable, Unfortunate
Today, PEN America denounced North East ISD, one of the largest school districts in Texas, for removing more than 400 books for review while responding to a request from… More
PEN America Denounces Texas House Committee’s Investigation into School Districts’ Books on Race, Sexuality, and Gender
The investigation comes at a time when books addressing these issues are being challenged in schools across Texas. More