Public schools banned nearly 12,000 books in the 2025-2026 school year, according to new data from PEN America, marking the highest number since the organization began tracking book bans in 2021.
That figure includes more than 7,300 unique titles, according to the report, "Banned in the USA: A Spotlight on School Book Bans," which was published amid Banned Books Week on Oct. 5. More than 4,500 of those were added to the index for the first time, which the report said is the highest number of new additions in a single year.
"This year just really feels like we're at a crisis point," Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America's Freedom to Read program, told USA TODAY.
PEN America defines the term "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."
Texas and Florida are book ban hotspots, report says
The "vast majority" of recorded book bans were in Texas and Florida, according to the report, going on to describe them as "blueprints for educational censorship."
The states also have the most complete book ban records because of public records requests from groups including the Florida Freedom to Read Project and the Texas Freedom to Read Project, the report said, also noting that its numbers are an undercount because book bans are often not reported and are "increasingly difficult to demonstrate without transparency from school districts."
A Texas law that went into effect in 2025 prohibited school library books with "indecent" or "profane content" and gave parents greater control over what books their child can check out, among other changes.
It can be difficult for schools to discern whether a particular title is permitted under such laws, Meehan said, adding that an increasing number of school districts are using artificial intelligence to review library collections and identify books that are not allowed.
She called it an "alarming" trend given that the technology can take passages out of context and recommend a title be removed simply because other school districts have done so.
"I think districts are stuck feeling like they have to remove full swaths of books to be in compliance," she said.
Meehan said PEN America has also monitored federal developments that echo the ongoing battles over book bans at the state and local levels.
In the days after President Donald Trump returned to office in 2025, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights called book bans a "hoax" and dismissed nearly a dozen complaints over such actions, saying school library collections should be a "question of parental and community judgment, not civil rights."
More recently, U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, R-Illinois, introduced a bill in February to block federal funding from being used for "sexually oriented material" for children. A floor vote has not yet been scheduled for the legislation.
Bans largely affect books on race, gender
Among the banned titles that entered the index for the first time were "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte, "Lessons in Chemistry" by Bonnie Garmus and "Romeo and/or Juliet: A Chooseable Path Adventure" by Ryan North.
Stephen King was the most banned author, with 312 bans. Ellen Hopkins, whose young adult novels include violent and sexual themes, was the second-most banned author with 234 bans, according to the report.
Continuing previous trends, the report said book bans have "overwhelmingly" targeted titles that center on themes including racism, LGBTQ+ issues and sexuality.
Earlier in the year, PEN America published a report finding that in the 2024-2025 school year, nonfiction books were censored at schools at more than double the previous rate.
BrieAnna Frank's role covering First Amendment issues at USA TODAY is made possible by a collaboration among Freedom Forum, Journalism Funding Partners and the USA TODAY Network. Freedom Forum does not provide editorial input. Reach BrieAnna at bjfrank@usatoday.com and @brieannafrank on X and Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Schools banned nearly 12,000 books in 2025-2026, report says
