PEN America, a nonprofit that advocates for freedom of expression, says that while the number of book bans in schools is declining, it’s still “rampant.”<\/p>\n
PEN America, a nonprofit that advocates for freedom of expression, says that while the number of book bans in schools is declining, it\u2019s still \u201crampant.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
According to PEN\u2019s report on book bans<\/a> in school libraries across the United States, there were 6,870 bans in the 2024-25 school year. That\u2019s a reduction from the previous year when there were 10,046 bans, but up considerably from the 2022-23 school year where there were 3,362 bans in school libraries across the U.S.<\/p>\n The data shows Florida and Texas had among the greatest number of book bans. In Florida, 33 school districts had 2,304 bans. In Texas, a total of 1,781 bans were documented across seven school districts.<\/p>\n In Virginia, there were 96 book bans in King George County Schools and one in Lynchburg City; and in Maryland, there were six book bans in Carroll County. No book bans were recorded in the District.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people are removing books because they\u2019re afraid,\u201d said Tasslyn Magnusson, a senior adviser with PEN\u2019s Freedom to Read initiative.<\/p>\n