A book ban happens when a school or library removes a book, or limits access to it, because of its content. A challenge is a formal request to remove or restrict a book. Many challenged books tell stories by or about Black, Latino, Indigenous, Asian American and LGBTQ+ people. The American Library Association (ALA) found that 40 percent of the titles challenged in 2025 represent the lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ people and people of color (ALA). Alongside book removals, states across the United States have passed laws that limit how teachers talk about race and racism (Education Week). Critics call them “educational gag orders.” Supporters call them bans on “divisive concepts.”
PEN America counted 6,870 instances of school book bans in the 2024-25 school year, across 23 states and 87 districts (PEN America). Florida (2,304), Texas (1,781) and Tennessee (1,622) led (NPR). From July 2021 to June 2025, PEN recorded 22,810 bans in 45 states and 451 districts (PEN America). PEN also found that of 2,520 bans tied to state laws, 97 percent came from districts acting in anticipation of those laws rather than from direct legal requirements (PEN America). ALA tracked 713 censorship attempts in 2025 covering 4,235 unique titles, the second-highest number on record (ALA). Pressure groups and government officials started 92 percent of those challenges, up from 72 percent in 2024. Fewer than 3 percent came from individual parents (ALA). An Education Week analysis found that between January 2021 and June 2026, 44 states introduced bills or took other steps to restrict teaching about racism and sexism, and 21 states put restrictions in place (Education Week).
The federal government became a major actor in 2025. On Jan. 29, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14190, “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling.” It threatens federal funding for schools that teach what it calls “discriminatory equity ideology” and “gender ideology,” and it revived the 1776 Commission (Holland and Knight). After this order and others, the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), which runs schools for military families, removed about 596 titles, including books on slavery, African American history and Native American history (ACLU). On Oct. 20, 2025, a federal judge in Virginia ordered those books returned at the five schools the student plaintiffs attend (ACLU). In July 2026, the White House released a 162-page report accusing the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History of presenting “a radical view of American history,” including content on slavery and racism (ABC News). On July 24, 2026, an executive order directed the National Park Service to post signs about the report near the museum (White House).
The courts are split. In May 2025, the full Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Little v. Llano County that library patrons have no First Amendment right to receive information from taxpayer-funded library books. The Texas county had removed 17 books, including Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on Dec. 8, 2025, so that ruling stands in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi (K-12 Dive). In August 2025, a federal judge in Florida struck down parts of the state’s school library law as overbroad in Penguin Random House v. Gibson (School Library Journal). In June 2025, the Supreme Court ruled in Mahmoud v. Taylor that parents with religious objections must be allowed to opt their children out of certain lessons (Supreme Court). Texas Senate Bill 13 (SB 13), in effect since Sept. 1, 2025, gives school boards final say over library purchases and lets parents petition to form advisory councils that review books (Texas Library Association). Advanced Placement (AP) African American Studies launched nationally in August 2024. Florida, Arkansas and South Carolina restrict it (Wikipedia).
