US schools hit record book ban, with sexuality and gender identity among top targets
Almost 12,000 books were banned in US public schools over the last year (Canva)
PEN America says US public schools saw a record 11,982 book bans over the past year, with challenges often linked to themes including race, racism, sexuality and gender identity.
The free expression organisation said the removals affected 7,370 individual works, the highest total since it began tracking school book removals five years ago. The figures were published in PEN America’s annual report, Banned in the USA, released during Banned Books Week.
PEN America said a large share of the bans happened in Florida and Texas, states that have introduced restrictive laws and seen politicians and conservative activists press for books to be taken out of schools.
In Banned in the USA, PEN America said school libraries are key to helping students explore ideas and experiences beyond their own. “Book bans impede the freedom to read, cutting students’ access to a diversity of views, voices, perspectives, and literature they deserve to encounter,” the PEN America report Banned in the USA said.
What did PEN America’s book ban report find?
PEN America said more than 4,500 works appeared on its list for the first time, ranging from Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre to Sui Ishida’s Tokyo Ghoul manga series.
PEN America counted 312 removals, making Stephen King — for the second year in a row — the author whose work was most often withdrawn. The organisation said the most banned individual title was Patricia McCormick’s novel Sold, with 25 removals.
PEN America also said school district administrators are increasingly relying on AI to determine which books should be pulled.
Why do book ban totals differ between trackers?
PEN America and the American Library Association have both described historic surges in book bans since the early 2020s, but they count bans differently. PEN America includes books removed even for a short time, while the ALA counts only books that have been permanently pulled.
NBC News cited the ALA’s most recent report, published in April, which counted some 5,600 instances of bans during the previous year.
In January 2023, Stephen King urged students to seek out challenged titles, after PEN America warned of a “dramatic expansion of book banning” across the US, including books with LGBTQ+ characters or themes.
