What Is a Book Ban?
A book ban is the removal or restriction of a book in a public school or library because a person, group, or government official objects to its content. It can be permanent or a “pending review” that keeps the book off shelves for months. Either way, every reader loses access, not only the family that complained.
Key facts
- PEN America counted 6,870 school book bans in 2024-2025, hitting nearly 4,000 titles in 23 states (PEN America).
- Florida, Texas, and Tennessee account for 83% of those bans.
- PEN has documented nearly 23,000 school book bans since 2021.
- Utah and South Carolina now ban some books from every public school in the state.
- In Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, courts now treat a public library’s choice to remove a book as the government’s own speech.
PEN America counts a book as banned when it is removed or restricted for all students after a challenge, including during a review. A parent deciding what their own child reads is a personal choice, and PEN does not count it.
What a Book Ban Looks Like in a School District
A book ban rarely looks like one parent and one book. In Tennessee, a 2024 change to the state’s Age-Appropriate Materials Act declared any book with nudity or sexual content “in whole or in part” unfit for every student, so a single page can remove a whole book. Monroe County then pulled 574 titles from its school libraries, including a Magic Tree House fact book about the ancient Olympics, because its cover shows a nude Greek statue. Wilson County pulled more than 400, and Oak Ridge more than 300 (PEN America).
In Florida, the pressure came from the top. In 2025, after Attorney General James Uthmeier and then-Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. pressed Hillsborough County to take down books they considered inappropriate, the superintendent removed six titles permanently and pulled roughly 600 others for review. After more pressure at a State Board of Education meeting, the district removed more than 50 additional titles at once, skipping its own committee review and parent input (PEN America).
In Texas, a 2025 law, SB 13, bans “indecent” and “profane” content in school libraries. PEN America reports that one district closed its secondary school libraries entirely before reopening them after public outcry, and another weeded out about 1,500 books, including memoirs by Barack and Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush (PEN America).
Where the 6,870 Book Bans Happened
Book bans are concentrated where state law makes removals easy, which is why a handful of states produce most of the national count.
Three states accounted for 83% of the 2024-2025 school book bans PEN America recorded.
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Florida | 2304 |
| Texas | 1781 |
| Tennessee | 1622 |
| The other 20 states with bans, combined | 1163 |
Source: PEN America Index of School Book Bans, 2024-2025 (23 states, 87 districts).
Florida led the country for the third straight year, and PEN recorded bans in only 23 states. Even these counts run low. PEN America and the Florida Freedom to Read Project warn that tallies built from formal objections miss books pulled by administrative order and books never bought out of fear of scrutiny (PEN America).
How State Laws and Officials Drive the Bans
Organized groups still write the lists. Recover America, which PEN America describes as a conservative activist group, compiled the 2,193-title “Harmful Books in Libraries” list that Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick demanded districts remove in August 2026 (PEN America). But state law and state officials now do much of the removing, and they reach districts where no one has filed a complaint.
How four state laws turn a challenge into a wider ban
Source: PEN America (Utah, Tennessee, Texas, and Florida reporting, 2025-2026)
State lists travel. When Florida published its list, PEN America’s Florida director, William Johnson, urged districts not to treat it as “a de facto statewide blacklist,” and said “a book’s removal in one Florida county should not become a license to ban it in the other 66” (PEN America).
Which Books Get Banned
PEN America reports that the bans predominantly target books about race and racism, books featuring people of color and LGBTQ+ people, and books for older readers with sexual references or sexual violence (PEN America).
No single book dominates the bans. The most banned title of 2024-2025 was removed 23 times, while 6,870 bans spread across nearly 4,000 titles.
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess | 23 |
| Breathless, Jennifer Niven | 20 |
| Sold, Patricia McCormick | 20 |
| Last Night at the Telegraph Club, Malinda Lo | 19 |
| A Court of Mist and Fury, Sarah J. Maas | 18 |
Source: PEN America Index of School Book Bans, 2024-2025, via PEN's Banned Books List 2026.
Bans reach far beyond a few controversial titles. Across the four school years from fall 2021 to spring 2025, John Green’s Looking for Alaska was banned most often, followed by Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes, a novel about a school shooting. Florida’s 2025-26 list includes The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.
What Courts Allow
The courts have not settled whether removing a book violates the First Amendment, and the answer now depends on where you live.
In Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982), a school board pulled nine books it called “anti-American” and “filthy.” A plurality of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Brennan, said school boards “may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books” (Oyez). Because no single opinion drew five votes, lower courts have treated it as limited guidance ever since.
In May 2025, the full Fifth Circuit went the other way for public libraries. In Little v. Llano County, a Texas case over 17 removed books, it held that a library’s choice to keep or remove a book is the government’s own speech, which the First Amendment does not restrict (Reason). On December 8, 2025, the Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal, which leaves that rule in place in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi without endorsing it anywhere else (Publishers Weekly). Suits in other circuits are still pending, including PEN America’s 2023 case against Florida’s Escambia County schools.
Where Book Bans Stand in September 2026
Verified September 24, 2026
- Texas. In August, Lt. Gov. Patrick demanded removal of the 2,193-title Recover America list, said only about one in five districts had complied with SB 13, and threatened to lower the ratings of schools that keep listed books. The Texas Freedom to Read Project says SB 13 does not require removing those books (PEN America).
- Florida. The state published its list of 600+ removed books on September 10.
- Utah. The statewide list stood at 37 books in June (PEN America).
- Congress. The Books Save Lives Act has 18 Democratic cosponsors and no committee action since April.
What it means locally: in most states, your school board still decides what stays on the shelf, so board meetings and district review policies are where a removal can be stopped.
Book Banning in the U.S., 1873 to Today
The current wave is the largest PEN has recorded, but the fight is old. Congress passed the Comstock Act in 1873, a court cleared Ulysses in 1933, the Supreme Court limited school removals in 1982, the modern surge began in 2021, bans hit a record in 2024-2025, the Fifth Circuit ruled for library removals in 2025, and the Books Save Lives Act was introduced in 2026.
- The Comstock Act A federal law made mailing "obscene" books a crime.
- Ulysses cleared in court A federal judge ruled James Joyce's Ulysses was not obscene.
- Island Trees v. Pico A Supreme Court plurality said boards may not remove books just because they dislike the ideas.
- The modern surge begins PEN America starts documenting the wave of school book bans.
- A record 6,870 school bans The most PEN has recorded in one school year.
- Little v. Llano County The full Fifth Circuit calls library removals government speech.
- Books Save Lives Act introduced H.R. 8235 would treat discriminatory removals as a civil rights violation.
Sources: PEN America; Oyez; Reason (Volokh Conspiracy); GovInfo.
Book banning in America, from Comstock to today: 1873: The Comstock Act (A federal law made mailing "obscene" books a crime.). 1933: Ulysses cleared in court (A federal judge ruled James Joyce's Ulysses was not obscene.). 1982: Island Trees v. Pico (A Supreme Court plurality said boards may not remove books just because they dislike the ideas.). 2021: The modern surge begins (PEN America starts documenting the wave of school book bans.). 2024-25: A record 6,870 school bans (The most PEN has recorded in one school year.). May 2025: Little v. Llano County (The full Fifth Circuit calls library removals government speech.). Apr 2026: Books Save Lives Act introduced (H.R. 8235 would treat discriminatory removals as a civil rights violation.).
1873: The Comstock Act made it a federal crime to mail “obscene” material, and it was used for decades against books about sex and birth control (see the Comstock Act explainer).
1933: A federal judge ruled that James Joyce’s Ulysses was not obscene, opening the door for it to be published in the United States.
1982: In Island Trees v. Pico, a Supreme Court plurality said school boards cannot remove library books to suppress ideas.
2021: PEN America began tracking the modern wave of school book bans, which has since reached nearly 23,000.
2024-2025: PEN recorded 6,870 school book bans, a single-year record.
May 2025: In Little v. Llano County, the full Fifth Circuit held that public library removals are government speech.
April 2026: Rep. Ayanna Pressley introduced the Books Save Lives Act.
How People Are Fighting Book Bans
The response has reached statehouses and Congress, and local pushback still returns books to shelves.
Rhode Island passed what PEN America calls the nation’s strongest Freedom to Read Act in July 2025. The law lets librarians, authors, patrons, students, and parents sue over censorship. It limits who can object to a library’s books to local residents, parents, teachers, and students, and it bars review committees from removing a book because of the views or background of its author (PEN America). The coalition behind it started with 10 librarians in 2023 and grew to more than 300 people.
In Congress, Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s Books Save Lives Act (H.R. 8235) would require a trained librarian in schools that receive federal funds and a diverse collection in those school libraries and in federally funded public libraries. It would also make a removal pattern that falls hardest on books by or about people of color, LGBTQ people, religious minorities, or people with disabilities evidence of discrimination under federal civil rights law.
Local pressure works too. The Texas district that closed its secondary school libraries under SB 13 reopened them after public outcry.
What a Book Ban Is Not
Not every decision about a book is a ban, and overusing the word weakens the case against real ones.
The line between curating a collection and banning a book
Schools make legitimate choices about their collections every day, so the reason is what separates curation from a ban. A book removed because it is falling apart is curation, but one removed because it features a gay character is a ban.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are banned books illegal to own or sell?
No. A book ban in this sense means removal from a public school or library. The same books remain legal to buy, own, and read.
What is the difference between a challenge and a ban?
A challenge is a request to remove or restrict a book. It becomes a ban in PEN America’s count when the book is actually removed or restricted for students, including while it sits in review.
Can parents still object to a book?
Yes. A parent can always decide what their own child reads. The dispute is about removing a book for every student in a school or district.
What You Can Do
- If you are a parent, ask your district two questions. Request its library reconsideration policy and the list of titles currently under review, then check board agendas for “library materials” or “reconsideration” items and speak at those meetings.
- If you are a student, speak for the books you need. Students can address school boards, and a student who explains what a book meant to them is hard to dismiss. Unite Against Book Bans has toolkits for students and parents.
- If you are a librarian or teacher facing a challenge, report it. The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom offers confidential challenge reporting and support.
- If your state has no freedom-to-read law, ask for one. Point your state legislators to Rhode Island’s 2025 law as a model. Find them at Open States.
- Read and discuss the banned books. Banned Books Week runs October 4-10, 2026, and PEN America’s banned books list shows what is being pulled.
- Ask your representative to cosponsor the Books Save Lives Act. H.R. 8235 has 18 cosponsors and no committee action. Use the letter below.