PEN America: 3,743 books banned

PEN America said on May 7 that 3,743 unique book titles were banned in U.S. public schools during the 2024-2025 school year, adding a new content analysis to its broader tracking of school censorship. The writers’ and free-expression group said those titles were drawn from 6,870 recorded cases of book bans between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025. The organization’s new report, “Facts & Fiction: Stories Stripped Away by Book Bans,” focuses on what kinds of books were removed, not only how many. Its findings point to a broad sweep across fiction, nonfiction, history, health, and books featuring LGBTQ+ people and people of color. ### Where does the 3,743 figure come from? The 3,743 total refers to unique titles, not the number of times a book was pulled from shelves. PEN America said its separate 2024-2025 index recorded 6,870 ban cases across 23 states and 87 public school districts, meaning some titles were banned in more than one place. The group has documented more than 22,800 school book-ban cases since 2021, according to its press materials. (pen.org) July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025 is the reporting window for both the index and the content study. PEN America said the report was built from the titles in that index to show what kinds of stories, subjects and identities were being removed from classrooms and libraries. ### Which books and subjects were most affected? PEN America said 29% of the unique titles banned last school year were nonfiction, more than double the share in the prior year. (pen.org) About 13% of all banned titles were educational or informational texts written primarily for student learning or reference, the group said. The organization also said 44% of banned titles featured people or characters of color. (pen.org) Its analysis found continued targeting of books with LGBTQ+ themes, gender identity, sexual violence, and health-related topics, alongside history and biography titles. USA Today, citing the report, said more than 3,500 unique titles were removed and nearly 30% were nonfiction. ### What does PEN America say is changing in the bans? PEN America said the latest school year showed a surge in removals of nonfiction and informational books, widening the scope beyond novels previously targeted in many districts. In a May 7 press release, the group said the pattern was “another example of how censorship sweeps broadly,” affecting “all kinds of books” in public schools. (theeducatorsroom.com) The group’s October 2025 report on the same school year described the environment as a “normalization” of book banning in public schools. That earlier report said the annual count had fallen from the previous year’s level, but that bans had become more embedded through statewide lists, district policies and continuing pressure on educators and librarians. (pen.org) ### Which states and titles appeared most often in the index? PEN America’s banned-books list for the 2024-2025 school year said Florida recorded 2,304 instances of bans, followed by Texas with 1,781 and Tennessee with 1,622. The group said John Green’s “Looking for Alaska” was the most frequently banned book that year, followed by Jodi Picoult’s “Nineteen Minutes.” (pen.org) The same list said other frequently banned titles included Anthony Burgess’s “A Clockwork Orange” and books from Sarah J. Maas’s “A Court of Thorns and Roses” series. Those rankings refer to the frequency of bans in the index, not to unique-title counts. ### Where can readers check the underlying data? PEN America has posted both the report “Facts & Fiction” and its 2024-2025 Index of School Book Bans on its website. (pen.org) The group’s book-ban data page also links to the underlying index materials and related reports covering earlier school years. May 7, 2026 is the publication date on the “Facts & Fiction” report page, and PEN America’s press kit says its running total since 2021 now stands at 22,810 book-ban cases in public schools. (pen.org 1) (pen.org 2)