Book bans in U.S. schools & libraries increased by 33% this past school year

Efforts to ban books in U.S. public schools and libraries continued to intensify during the 2022–2023 school year, according to a new report from PEN America.

In its “Banned in the USA: The Mounting Pressure to Censor” report, the nonprofit organization which advocates for free expression found that there was a 33 percent increase in book bans across the U.S. between July 1, 2022, and June 31, 2023, compared to the previous school year, leading the report’s authors to warn that “the freedom to read is under assault.”

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“These censorious efforts will not end with book bans,” the letter states.

The organization recorded 3,362 instances of book bans over the past year targeting 1,557 unique titles. Over 40 percent of all book bans occurred in Florida, where laws like the Parental Rights in Education and the Stop W.O.K.E. Acts have provided a template for laws in other states aimed at radically reshaping the American educational system. In total, PEN America reported 1,406 book ban cases in the state, nearly as many as in Texas (625), Missouri (333), Utah (281), and Pennsylvania (186) combined.

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According to the report, the overwhelming majority of book bans across the country have targeted books about race and racism, those featuring characters of color, and books about the LGBTQ+ experience. Of the 3,362 book bans tracked in the report, 30 percent targeted books with LGBTQ+ characters or themes. The report’s list of the most frequently banned books during the 2022–2023 school year includes Ellen Hopkins’s Tricks, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, and Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer.

Book bans have also primarily targeted books for young adults, middle grades, and younger readers.  

PEN America has dubbed the movement to exert ideological control over public education in the U.S. in recent years the “Ed Scare.” The report found that 87 percent of all book bans recorded over the past year occurred in districts with a nearby chapter or local affiliate of a national advocacy group known to advocate for book censorship, while 63 percent occurred in states where legislation has been passed that “either directly facilitated book bans or created the conditions for local groups to pressure and intimidate educators and librarians into removing books.” The reported specifically noted three national groups leading the charge to ban books: Moms for Liberty, Citizens Defending Freedom, and Parents’ Rights in Education.

“Hyperbolic and misleading rhetoric continues to ignite fear over the types of books in schools,” PEN America’s Freedom to Read program director Kasey Meehan said in a statement.

“The toll of the book banning movement is getting worse. More kids are losing access to books, more libraries are taking authors off the shelves, and opponents of free expression are pushing harder than ever to exert their power over students as a whole,” PEN America’s chief executive officer Suzanne Nossel said. “Those who are bent on the suppression of stories and ideas are turning our schools into battlegrounds, compounding post-pandemic learning loss, driving teachers out of the classroom and denying the joy of reading to our kids. By depriving a rising generation of the freedom to read, these bans are eating away at the foundations of our democracy.”

While the report paints a dire picture, it also notes that students are increasingly leading the fight against book censorship in schools. It lists several instances of student protests against book bans and censorship policies in Nebraska and Pennsylvania in 2023, as well as students speaking out at local school board meetings across the country.

“We’re fighting for our voices to be heard,” the report quotes one student activist in New York as saying. “And if you’re trying to take things away that we value, we’re going to let you know how we feel about that. We’re going to fight for those things we care about.”