Florida school districts removed 3,212 book titles in 2025-26, ranking second nationally behind Texas, PEN America reports

Florida school districts removed 3,212 book titles from school libraries and classrooms during the 2025-26 school year, according to PEN America's annual Index of School Book Bans, ranking the state second in the nation for book removals. Texas led the country with 8,193 bans, surpassing Florida for the first time in three years.

PEN America documented nearly 12,000 book bans across the United States during the reporting period, the highest single-year total since PEN America began tracking removals in 2021. Last year's report recorded 6,870 bans nationwide.

PEN America defines a ban as any instance in which a title is temporarily or permanently removed from a school library or classroom. The organization has monitored these removals across U.S. school districts annually.

According to the report, the majority of books pulled from school libraries last year were young adult fiction and manga, which includes comic books and graphic novels. Fiction accounted for 90% of the removed titles.

The report's authors identified artificial intelligence as a contributing factor in the rise in removals. District administrators, the report states, are "increasingly turning to AI to evaluate books for removal" under state law. In some cases, the report found, AI systems recommended removing a book not because the title was obscene under state law, but because other districts had already banned it.

The report follows a multiyear pattern of removals in Florida. Advocacy groups have argued that the removals disproportionately affect minority students and have increased self-censorship among school librarians and teachers.

Literacy concerns have added to the debate. Students across Florida continue to report some of the lowest reading scores in the country, according to a nationwide education report published in May. Advocates have warned that restricting access to popular titles could further disengage students from reading.

In Hillsborough County, state officials last year accused Hillsborough County Public Schools of violating state law, which led to the removal of hundreds of titles, including Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" and Toni Morrison's "Beloved." Attorney General James Uthmeier called certain titles "patently pornographic," prompting additional districts to remove books, according to reporting by the Tampa Bay Times.

Florida Education Commissioner Henry Mack issued a memo to all district leaders last month outlining a 90-day implementation plan to ensure library materials "are consistent with Florida law."

"Make no mistake, the Department will hold districts, and the superintendents who lead them, accountable for failing to protect students from inappropriate content and material," Mack wrote in the memo.

The report said a new state law in Texas helped push the state to the top of PEN America's list. The law regulates how public schools catalog books and expands parental rights.

Kasey Meehan, a representative with PEN America, said schools should focus on broadening access to reading rather than narrowing it.

"Schools should be doing everything possible to connect kids with reading," Meehan said.

The 90-day implementation plan outlined by Mack's memo is in effect for Florida school districts. The Department of Education has not yet announced specific enforcement timelines or penalties for districts that fail to comply.