UNITED STATES / RankWire.AI / – According to PEN America, U.S. public schools enacted 11,982 book bans during the 2025-26 academic year. This number marks a record high since the organization began tracking such restrictions in 2021. The bans involved a total of 7,370 distinct titles across 114 school districts. Over 4,000 authors, illustrators, and translators appear in the records, including Canadian writers Margaret Atwood and Ryan North, who were affected by the wave of removals expanding nationwide.
Among the titles targeted in ongoing censorship debates was Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, while North’s Romeo and/or Juliet: A Chooseable Path Adventure was added to PEN America’s index for the first time. The majority of banned works—more than half—are young-adult titles, with fiction comprising over 80% of the total. The index also revealed that over 4,500 titles appeared for the first time, illustrating how widespread and diverse the restrictions have become.
The states of Texas and Florida contributed most significantly to the national totals. Texas alone accounted for over 8,100 bans, whereas Florida recorded more than 3,200. PEN America reported that legislative measures in these states influenced bans in 72% of the districts monitored. During the 2025-26 school year, Texas Senate Bill 13 expanded parental rights over school library collections and established statewide guidelines for materials deemed harmful, indecent, profane, or inappropriate for minors.
Conservative initiatives intensify pressure on educational institutions
Organizations advocating conservative policies have emerged as key players in many efforts to remove books from schools. Groups such as Moms for Liberty, Citizens Defending Freedom, and Parents’ Rights in Education have promoted campaigns to eliminate certain titles across multiple states. PEN America has linked these organizations to organized conservative activism targeting education. Data from national libraries in 2025 shows that 92% of reported challenges to books originated from pressure groups, government officials, and institutional decision-makers, while individual parents contributed less than 3%, contradicting claims that the surge is mainly driven by isolated family grievances.
The nature of the challenged books reveals consistent patterns. PEN America notes that many restrictions target titles related to race, racism, LGBTQ+ issues, sexuality, and sexual violence. Books featuring characters of color are frequently among those affected. Many of these titles had already been selected by educators and librarians for school collections before the recent waves of challenges. Now, political campaigns, legislative actions, and public objections exert increased influence over which books are accessible to students.
Rising book bans raise alarm over free speech
The scope of these restrictions now extends well beyond isolated local disputes. PEN America reports over 34,000 school book bans since 2021. Meanwhile, the American Library Association recorded 4,235 unique titles challenged during 2025, alongside 5,668 books removed from libraries and another 920 facing limited access. Although the two organizations use different methodologies, both highlight ongoing nationwide pressure on the availability of books and educational materials.
While Atwood and North are Canadian authors, their inclusion underscores how the debate, largely driven by U.S. state politics, influences book access. Conservative-backed legislation and advocacy networks have significantly shaped decisions about school library collections. Organizations dedicated to free expression warn that these broad removal efforts diminish access to books addressing race, identity, sexuality, and other sensitive subjects. Supporters of stricter controls argue that schools need to vet materials for age appropriateness. The latest data demonstrate that politically motivated restrictions now impact thousands of titles in American public schools.