Overview: a persistent trend in US school censorship
The latest PEN America report, Banned in the USA, offers a sobering snapshot of how book bans have evolved in American schools during the 2024–2025 academic year. The study tallies 6,800 titles that were either temporarily restricted or permanently removed from curricula and library shelves. While this figure sits below the roughly 10,000 bans recorded in the previous year, it remains far higher than what researchers saw just a few years ago, when PEN America paused the annual tally. The data reveal a country where censorship is no longer a rare or episodic event, but a recurring feature of debates over what students should read and discuss.
Stephen King dominates the author bans
Among individual writers, Stephen King stands out for the sheer number of cancellations. His titles were banned 206 times, including the early classic Carrie and the postwar-era work The Stand (Pestens tid in many translations). While King’s name is the most visible in the report, the spectrum of censored works remains broad, spanning acclaimed novels, young adult fiction, and genre staples. The most frequently banned title in the period was Anthony Burgess’s dystopian masterpiece A Clockwork Orange, which faced 23 separate ban actions. The list of censored titles also features familiar names like Patricia McCormick’s Sold, Judy Blume’s Forever, Jennifer Niven’s Breathless, and numerous novels by Sarah J. Maas and Jodi Picoult.
Why are these books facing bans?
The PEN America analysis highlights recurring themes that trigger censorship. LGBTQ+ content and depictions of ethnicity or race are among the most common justifications used to ban books. Violence, including sexual violence, also frequently appears as a reason for restriction. A notable trend cited by PEN America is the rise of preemptive removals—cases where schools or districts pull or restrict books to avoid potential political or legal pressure, rather than waiting for formal challenges or complaints. This preemptive behavior suggests a strategic shift in how schools navigate the climate around censorship, often reducing access before readers can even engage with the material.
Regional patterns and political context
The geographic concentration of bans is striking. About eight in ten bans come from three states: Florida, Texas, and Tennessee. These states have either enacted laws targeting objectionable content or actively pursued restrictions through legislative and governance channels. The pattern underscores how state-level policy aims can shape school libraries and curricula across the country, influencing what is available to millions of students. In this context, local decisions at the district level intersect with broader political debates about education, parental involvement, and the appropriate boundaries of classroom and library materials.
The broader implications for schools and democracy
The report arrives at a moment when censorship pressure extends beyond local school boards to the federal arena, with policymakers and agencies weighing in on what children should encounter in classrooms and libraries. Advocates for freedom of information argue that limits on reading material shrink intellectual and cultural exposure, while proponents of stricter controls contend that schools have a duty to shield students from material they consider inappropriate or harmful. The tension between these aims reflects a deeper contest over who gets to decide what counts as permissible knowledge in a democratic society.
What comes next?
Educators, librarians, and policymakers are left with a critical question: how to balance protecting students with upholding the right to access a wide range of ideas. Ongoing monitoring, transparent processes for challenges, and robust professional development around censorship and intellectual freedom may help schools weather this turbulent period. As debates continue to unfold in classrooms and courthouses, the living impact is felt most by students whose access to certain texts is narrowed or delayed.
For readers seeking concrete examples of how bans unfold, look to ongoing reports and related coverage, such as debates over the banning of Anne Frank’s Diary in Florida and the increasing number of challenges filed against books in schools nationwide.
