Public schools banned books 11,982 times during the 2025-26 school year, according to a new count from PEN America, the most since the free speech group began tracking in 2021. The bans covered 7,370 different titles, and more than 4,500 of those had never appeared in PEN's index before.
Most of the bans came from just two states. Texas led with around 8,200, followed by Florida with more than 3,200. These two states accounted for around 95% of the total bans. PEN counted 114 districts that banned books during the year, also a record.
| School year | Book bans recorded |
|---|---|
| 2021-22 | 2,532 |
| 2022-23 | 3,362 |
| 2023-24 | 10,046 |
| 2024-25 | 6,870 |
| 2025-26 | 11,982 |
School years run July 1 to June 30. Source: PEN America Index of School Book Bans.
PEN tied much of the Texas total to SB 13, a 2025 state law on school library books that called for removing material with "indecent" or "profane" content. Across all states, PEN said, bans in 72% of the districts it tracked could be traced to state legislation, either because district policies cited state law or because officials named it as the reason. Texas has more than 1,000 traditional school districts, according to allk12's data.
PEN also points to direct pressure from state officials. In Florida in 2025, the state's attorney general and education commissioner accused Hillsborough County Public Schools of violating state law over books in its libraries, and the district removed titles after a state board hearing. Other districts then pulled the same list of 55 books. By June 2026, PEN said, books on that list had been removed at least 165 times across 18 districts.
AI is picking some of the books
A newer trend is districts using artificial intelligence to decide what to ban. Public records gathered by the Texas Freedom to Read Project and shared with PEN show chatbots recommending removals because other districts had already banned a book, not because the book met the legal standard for obscenity, PEN said. Some Texas districts also signed contracts with Bookmarked, which calls itself a "book intelligence company."
Manga and graphic novels were another major target. Series such as Attack on Titan, Fire Force, and Assassination Classroom were often removed all at once, which in some cases meant 20 to 50 titles from a single series.
What got banned
Young adult books made up 58% of bans and adult books 26%, according to PEN's breakdown. Middle-grade books were 10%, and picture books and chapter books were each under 1%. Fiction accounted for 87% of bans.
Stephen King was the most banned author for the second year in a row. His books were pulled 312 times, the Associated Press reported. The most banned single title was Sold by Patricia McCormick, removed 25 times. Other frequent targets included Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Ellen Hopkins' Crank, and John Green's Looking for Alaska. Books banned for the first time included Jane Eyre, Lessons in Chemistry, and Gary Paulsen's The Beet Fields.
How the count works
Counts of book bans depend on who is counting. PEN counts a book as banned even if it is removed only for a short time, such as during a review, while the American Library Association counts only books that are permanently pulled, the AP reported. The ALA's most recent report, from April, put the previous year's total at about 5,600.
PEN says its own numbers are an undercount, because many removals go unreported. It also says Texas and Florida rank highest partly because they have the most complete records, thanks to public records requests filed by local Freedom to Read groups.
Florida officials have long rejected the term. In 2023, Gov. Ron DeSantis called it "the 'book ban' hoax" and said removed books contained "pornographic and inappropriate materials" that violated state education standards.
The report was released during Banned Books Week.
Sources
PEN America: Banned in the USA, 2025-26 school year
Associated Press via CBS17: PEN America: Nearly 12,000 school book bans in a year, a record high
Florida Department of Education: Governor Ron DeSantis Debunks Book Ban Hoax (2023)
District counts from allk12's analysis of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data, 2024-25.
