Everyday Bans, Everyday Resistance: What PEN America’s Latest Report Reveals About Book Censorship

The 2024–2025 school year marked the fourth consecutive year of unprecedented book bans in the United States. According to PEN America’s Banned in the USA report, book censorship has become routine in public education, no longer an exception but an expectation. Between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025, the report documents 6,870 instances of book bans across 23 states and 87 school districts, affecting 3,752 unique titles and nearly 2,600 authors, illustrators, and translators.

The numbers are staggering: since July 2021, more than 22,800 book bans have been recorded in 45 states and 451 districts. Florida led the nation this year, with 2,304 bans, fueled by vague legislation and threats to educators’ professional licenses.

Defining a Book Ban

PEN America defines a school book ban as any action taken against a book based on its content that results in its removal or restriction for students. This includes books “pending investigation,” banned outright, or made accessible only with parental permission. Crucially, these are books already vetted and selected by educators and librarians as part of school collections, professional judgments overridden by political pressure.

Key Trends from 2024–2025

1. From Local Fights to Federal Pressure

Book bans are no longer confined to statehouses. The Trump Administration issued executive orders restricting DEI programs and discussions of gender, which were then used to justify the removal of nearly 600 books from Department of Defense schools worldwide. Titles like ABC of Equality and volumes of Heartstopper vanished from shelves, prompting lawsuits from students and families.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Education called book bans a “hoax” and eliminated a civil rights position meant to investigate discriminatory bans. The result: a chilling effect that signals to states and districts that censorship is sanctioned from the top.

2. LGBTQ+ Erasure Disguised as “Protecting Children”

A persistent tactic has been the sexualization of LGBTQ+ identities. Picture books such as And Tango Makes Three and The Family Book have been falsely labeled as “sexually explicit,” leading to widespread removals.

This conflation culminated in the Supreme Court’s decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor, which required opt-outs for families objecting to LGBTQ-inclusive materials being used in the classroom. The ruling encourages a discriminatory practice: omitting LGBTQ+ stories entirely, effectively denying many students the chance to see their families reflected in school.

3. Fear, Not Law, Drives Most Bans

Perhaps the most sobering finding: 97% of book bans weren’t required by law but were driven by fear of possible noncompliance. District leaders, administrators, and librarians often acted preemptively to avoid political retaliation, lawsuits, or funding threats. This anticipatory obedience echoes authoritarian playbooks, when silence is chosen out of fear, even without direct orders.

4. Statewide “No Read” Lists

For the first time, state-mandated bans emerged. Utah and South Carolina both introduced “no read” lists that effectively banned books across all districts. In Utah alone, 18 titles banned locally expanded into an estimated 738 statewide bans. South Carolina’s 22 titles could total 1,782 bans if replicated across all districts (assuming all districts previously provided access to these titles).

5. Authors in the Crosshairs

Book bans don’t just silence stories; they damage careers. More than 2,600 creative professionals were impacted this year, with some facing the “Scarlet Letter” effect, once one book is banned, campaigns target the author’s entire body of work. Financial strain from lost school visits, diminished sales, and the emotional toll of self-censorship all threaten the future of diverse literature.

6. Everyday Resistance

Yet PEN America highlights an equally powerful trend: resistance is everywhere. Of the 87 districts with bans, 70 saw organized pushback. Parents, students, librarians, and authors formed grassroots coalitions like the Florida Freedom to Read Project, Texas Freedom to Read Project, and Let Utah Read. National groups—from the ACLU to Authors Against Book Bans—amplified these local fights.

Why This Matters

Book bans are not isolated skirmishes. They are part of a coordinated campaign to undermine public education. By stripping classrooms and libraries of diverse voices, censors aim to weaken trust in schools, drive families toward privatized alternatives, and reshape curricula to reflect ideological control.

The bans disproportionately target books about race, racism, gender identity, and sexuality, erasing marginalized voices and denying students the mirrors and windows they need to understand themselves and others. As Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop wrote, “When children cannot find themselves reflected in the books they read… they learn a powerful lesson about how they are devalued.”

Takeaways for Advocates

The PEN America report makes clear that book bans are:

• Routine and escalating: No longer novel, bans are now embedded in the operation of schools.
  
  
• Harmful to education: They drain time, resources, and trust from teachers and librarians already facing shortages and political scrutiny.
  
  
• Spreading beyond books: Textbooks, curricula, book fairs, and even donations are now targets, creating a chilling effect across all educational materials.
  
  
• Dangerous for democracy: By normalizing censorship, bans erode the foundation of free inquiry essential to democratic society.
  
  

A Call to Action

If there is one lesson from this report, it is that silence helps censorship spread; resistance helps freedom endure. Everyday parents, students, and educators are pushing back, and winning, by documenting bans, speaking at school board meetings, sharing personal stories, and demanding accountability from leaders.

The freedom to read is not an abstract principle. It is the right of every child to see themselves in a story, to explore complex ideas, and to grow into informed citizens.

As Jason Reynolds told students last year: “Your life, as it exists today, is a life that matters enough to be written about.”

We owe it to them to keep those stories on the shelves.