PEN Report Finds School Book Bans Reach Record High in 2025–26; ALA Documents 4,235 Challenged Titles in Prior Year

Book bans in U.S. schools have reached an all-time high in the 2025–26 school year, according to a new PEN America report.

School book bans in the United States have climbed to their highest recorded level in the 2025–26 academic year, according to findings from PEN America, the literary and free-expression advocacy organization. The report marks what PEN describes as an unprecedented peak in challenges and removals of books from school libraries and curricula across the country. Adding historical context, the American Library Association (ALA) has published a list of the 150 most challenged books documented between 1990 and 2025 in honor of Banned Books Week. The ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 4,235 challenged titles last year alone, which it describes as the second-highest annual total on record. The surge in bans has drawn responses from across the publishing industry. Sourcebooks, an independent publisher, has publicly addressed the issue through discussions focused on the freedom to read, signaling that mid-size publishers are increasingly vocal participants in the debate over access to books in schools. Publishers Weekly has dedicated its 2026 edition to the freedom-to-read issue, reflecting the degree to which book challenges have become a defining concern for the book industry at large. On the legislative front, Publishers Weekly has also published guidance on how advocates can pass statewide right-to-read bills, highlighting that successful efforts require political passion, a streamlined legal strategy, and a well-organized volunteer base. A closer look at individual banned titles illustrates the human stakes of the debate: Publishers Weekly has published an inside account of the fight to keep Patricia McCormick's young adult novel 'Sold' on school shelves following its ban, detailing the advocacy efforts mounted in its defense. In a related but distinct legal dispute, children's authors have filed a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles after a public library cancelled a 'Read Palestine Week' event, raising questions about government censorship and free expression in public library programming. On the retail and community side, audiobook platform Libro.fm and the Silent Book Club are planning a Banned Books Week read-in event, bringing together readers in a public demonstration of support for challenged titles. Banned Books Week is an annual event coordinated by the American Library Association to spotlight books that have faced removal or restriction efforts. Taken together, the PEN report, ALA historical data, industry coverage, publisher advocacy, legislative strategy guidance, individual book ban case studies, legal action over library programming, and grassroots reading events point to a broad mobilization within literary, library, and policy communities in response to what the data characterizes as a record-setting wave of school book restrictions.

Why it matters

Record-level book bans directly affect what students can access in school libraries and classrooms, raising questions about educational equity and First Amendment protections. The trend has galvanized publishers, booksellers, and reader communities into coordinated public responses.

What's next

Readers and advocates should watch for the full PEN America report's release and the Libro.fm–Silent Book Club Banned Books Week read-in event for further details on the industry's organized response.

Key facts

Bias & framing notes

All four sources are from a single outlet, Publishers Weekly, which is itself a trade publication with a professional stake in the book industry and a clear editorial alignment with free-expression and anti-ban advocacy — as evidenced by its dedicating a full issue to the topic. No body text was available for any source, so specific data points, methodology, or counterarguments from ban supporters cannot be verified or surfaced from the reporting itself. The framing across all headlines leans toward the anti-ban perspective without surfacing the stated rationale of those who support book challenges.

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