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  • Intellectual Freedom, Censorship, and Book Bans

    This resource guide provides information about censorship and the freedom to read in the United States.

    PEN America 2024-2025 Report - The Normalization of Book Banning

    A series of expanding circles shows increasing book bans by school year: 2,532 (2021–22), 3,362 (2022–23), 10,046 (2023–24), and 6,870 (2024–25). PEN America logo is in the top right corner.

    In 2025, book censorship in the United States is rampant and common. Never before in the life of any living American have so many books been systematically removed from school libraries across the country. Never before have so many states passed laws or regulations to facilitate the banning of books, including bans on specific titles statewide. Never before have so many politicians sought to bully school leaders into censoring according to their ideological preferences, even threatening public funding to exact compliance. Never before has access to so many stories been stolen from so many children.

    The book bans that have accumulated in the past four years are unprecedented and undeniable. This report looks back at the 2024-2025 school year – the fourth school year in the contemporary campaign to ban books – and illustrates the continued attacks on books, stories, identities, and histories.  

    This report offers a window into the complex and extensive climate of censorship between July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025. Our reporting on book bans remains a bellwether of a larger campaign to restrict and control education and public narratives, wreaking havoc on our public schools and democracy.

    During the 2024-2025 school year, PEN America recorded 6,870 instances of book bans across 23 states and 87 public school districts.

    When taken all together, since July 2021, our Index records 22,810 cases of book bans across 45 states and 451 public school districts.

    The Normalization of Book Banning. PEN America. (2025, October 1). https://pen.org/report/the-normalization-of-book-banning/

    Top 10 Most Challenged Books (2024)

    Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2024 banner

    For more information on these titles and their challenges, visit the American Library Association's Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2024 page.

    1. All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson

    2. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

    3. (TIE) The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

    3. (TIE) The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

    5. Tricks by Ellen Hopkins

    6. (TIE) Looking for Alaska by John Green

    6. (TIE) Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

    8. (TIE) Crank by Ellen Hopkins

    8. (TIE) Sold by Patricia McCormick

    10. Flamer by Mike Curato

    Censorship by the Numbers (2024)

    Censorship by the numbers: Who challenges books? 36% Board/Administration, 26% Pressure groups, 10% Elected officials/government, 16% Parents, 7% Other/Unknown, 4% Patrons, 1% Librarians/teachers/staff. Nearly 72% of censorship attempts in 2024 were initiated by pressure groups and decision makers who have been swayed by them. Censorship by the numbers: where do challenges take place? 55% Public libraries, 38% School libraries, 5% Schools, 2% Higher education/other. Multi-title challenges at schools remained alarmingly expansive in 2024. The trend of attempting to censor materials and services available to entire communities through their public library continued.

    Censorship by the numbers: Books and beyond. ALA's Office for intellectual Freedom tracked 821 censorship attempts in 2024. Here's the breakdown: 76% books and graphic novels, 6% hate crimes, 6% displays, 3% programs, 3% access, 2% films, 4% other Censorship by the numbers: percentage of total titles targeted by pressure groups and decision makers, 2001-2024. Pressure groups and the decision makers they influenced targeted 4,190 total titles in 2024. From 2001-2020, this constituency attempted to remove an average of 46 titles per year. 2005: 6%, 2010: 8%, 2015: 14%, 2020: 25%, 2024: 72%

    Censorship by the numbers: number of unique titles challenged by year. Various factors contributed to the decline in reported censorship attempts in 2024, including legislative pressure, intimidation of library workers, fatigue, and attrition. 2004: 390, 2014: 183, 2021: 1,858, 2022: 2,571, 2023: 4,240, 2024: 2,452

    Data and graphics from the American Library Association

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