A new report from PEN America, released in May 2026 and titled Facts & Fiction: Stories Stripped Away By Book Bans, found that nonfiction titles accounted for 29% of the 3,743 unique books removed from U.S. school libraries and classrooms during the 2024-2025 school year — more than double the nonfiction share recorded the previous year, according to Publishing Perspectives' coverage of the findings.
The report found that within banned nonfiction titles, more than half touched on activism or social movements, and a smaller but notable share addressed race, gender, or sexuality-related history. PEN America's Freedom to Read program director described the trend as reflecting a broader devaluing of educational and reference material, not solely fiction with mature content, as reported by Publishing Perspectives.
Separately, PEN America's broader tracking recorded 6,870 total school book ban instances during the 2024-2025 school year, spanning 23 states and 87 districts, according to the organization's own published data. The American Library Association's parallel tracking found a similar pattern in public and school libraries generally, with 4,235 unique titles challenged in 2025 alone.
School-level removals do not affect a book's availability elsewhere — public libraries, bookstores, and legal ebook services typically continue to carry commonly challenged titles. Readers can check our guide to finding banned books for legitimate access options.
Sources: Publishing Perspectives, PEN America.