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According to a report by PEN America, a nonprofit that advocates for freedom of speech across the U.S., Texas led the country in public school book bans last year, restricting access to 8,193 books.<\/p>\n
Michael Wyke\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Texas<\/a> districts banned more books <\/a>in public schools<\/a> than any other state in the nation \u2014 and leaders are increasingly using artificial intelligence<\/a> to decide what to ban, according to PEN America.\u00a0<\/p>\n The nonprofit, which advocates for freedom of speech across the country, released a report<\/a>Monday recording the number of book bans in U.S. public schools. It found that schools took 11,982 books off library shelves across the U.S. in the 2025-26 school year \u2014 the highest number since PEN America started tracking bans in 2021.<\/p>\n Texas led the pack of bans per state, restricting access to 8,193 books last year. It\u2019s a stark increase from last year, where PEN America found Texas districts banned just under 2,000 books.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Related: Dallas County jail banned physical books and magazines. A prisoner rights publisher says it\u2019s illegal<\/a><\/p>\n PEN America senior manager Philomena Polefrone said the finding was \u201cstaggering\u201d \u2014 but not completely unexpected, given recent statewide legislation.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen any state has over 8,000 bans it\u2019s going to come as a surprise,\u201d she said. \u201cOn the other hand, when H.B. 900 and S.B. 13 were being debated in the state legislature, this is what we\u2019d been saying it would lead to the whole time.\u201d<\/p>\n The Texas Legislature passed H.B. 900<\/a>, which required book sellers to rate materials for sexual content, in 2023. After a federal judge declared the rating system unconstitutional and permanently blocked portions of the law in 2025, legislators passed S.B. 13 to increase oversight of public school library materials through advisory councils and parental supervision.<\/p>\n Related: Book bans and attempted bans remain at record highs, with ‘Sold’ topping the list<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Polefrone said the legislation \u2014 combined with increasingly combative rhetoric from state leaders \u2014 make it more difficult for Texas librarians to keep books on their shelves.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s quite clearly political pressure and fear of political targeting that is causing all the bans,\u201d she said, referencing a recent news conference<\/a> where Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick threatened penalties for school districts who did not remove certain books.\u00a0<\/p>\n Related: Targeting school library books a Texas House priority<\/a><\/p>\n Over a dozen districts in North Texas \u2014 including McKinney ISD, Plano ISD\u00a0and Fort Worth ISD \u2014 established school library advisory councils last year. The SLACs review books librarians propose purchasing for their collections \u2014 as well as any proposed bans that can come from anyone who lives in the district.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to the report, Texas districts are increasingly relying on AI to evaluate what books should be removed from school shelves. PEN America partnered with the Texas Freedom to Read project to obtain public records showing prompts and responses that dictated districts\u2019 decisions to restrict books.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n