US schools removed 11,982 books, a record for PEN America

US public schools recorded 11,982 book bans during the 2025-2026 school year, the highest total since PEN America began tracking removals five years ago. The bans affected 7,370 individual works and spanned 114 school districts, also a record for the organisation's annual report. The findings were published on 5 October 2026 in the report titled "Banned in the USA."nbcnews.com+1

The total marks a jump from earlier years, when PEN recorded between 2,500 and 10,000 banned books annually. More than 4,500 of the banned titles were new to PEN's list, ranging from the 19th century classic "Jane Eyre" to Sui Ishida's "Tokyo Ghoul" manga series. PEN described the data as the continued expansion of the book banning crisis in American public schools.

What the record total includes

Texas and Florida recorded the most bans of any states, with Texas logging between 8,000 and 9,000 and Florida between 3,000 and 4,000. Both states expanded their book-ban policies in 2025: Texas passed its book-ban law, SB 13, while Florida politicians pressed school districts to remove titles that same year. Themes of race, racism, sexuality and gender identity remain the most common reasons books are challenged.

PEN America attributed bans in 72% of the districts it tracked to state legislation, either because school book review policies cite state law, because committees like those mandated by SB 13 carried out bans, or because a district's stated rationale cited state law. In Florida, current law lets a district review and remove a book after a complaint that it is pornographic, obscene or not age appropriate.wusf.org

Where the bans concentrated

Florida Education Commissioner Henry Mack instructed superintendents and charter school leaders last month to continuously audit books and remove instructional materials containing sexually explicit material, even without a parent or resident complaint. Districts that do not comply risk losing state funds, grants, Florida Lottery money or other funds appropriated by the Legislature. The American Library Association lists sexually explicit content, LGBTQIA+ content and equity, diversity and inclusion content among top challenge reasons.

Stephen King was the most banned author for the second straight year, with his books pulled 312 times, including "The Shining" and "The Green Mile." Ellen Hopkins and Sarah J. Maas followed. The most banned individual title was Patricia McCormick's novel "Sold," about a girl sold into sexual slavery in India, with 25 removals. Other frequently targeted books include "The Handmaid's Tale," "Speak" and "Crank."

Why state laws drove removals

PEN America reported that district administrators rely increasingly on artificial intelligence to determine which books should be pulled. The organisation also found that authors experience what it called the "Scarlett Letter" effect, in which their back catalogs are targeted after a ban on a specific title. Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" and John Green's "Looking for Alaska" appear among the commonly banned repeats.

PEN America and the American Library Association both report historic surges in bans since the early 2020s, but their counts differ. PEN counts a book removed even briefly as a ban, while the library association includes only books permanently pulled. The American Library Association's most recent report, published in April, recorded some 5,600 instances of bans during the previous year, roughly half of PEN's total.

The PEN report argues that school libraries make knowledge and ideas available regardless of personal or political ideologies, and that book bans cut students' access to a diversity of views, voices and perspectives. The report arrived during "Banned Books Week," started by the American Library Association during the 1980s, with events at schools, libraries and other locations nationwide drawing attention to censorship efforts.