K12 book bans cut across grades and genres, frequently targeting works about people of color, racism and LGBTQ+ topics, according to the latest PEN America analysis.
The nonprofit anti-censorship organization tracked more than 4,200 banned books in the 2023-2024 school year and found that more than a third featured fictional characters or real people of color.
Nearly 30% of books removed from K12 libraries featured LGBTQ+ characters, people or themes.
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“This targeted censorship amounts to a harmful assault on historically marginalized and underrepresented populations—a dangerous effort to erase their stories, achievements and history from schools,” said Sabrina Baêta, senior manager for PEN America’s Freedom to Read program.
“When we strip library shelves of books about particular groups, we defeat the purpose of a library collection that is supposed to reflect the lives of all people,” Baêta continued. “The damaging consequences to young people are real.”
These K12 book bans are occurring as the population of students of color has reached an all-time high, now accounting for more than half of all American schoolchildren, PEN America noted.
K12 book bans are surging
Book bans skyrocketed by 200% during the 2023-2024 school year, with the challenges coming predominantly from far-right activists targeting stories of race, sexuality and gender identity, PEN America reported in another analysis.
“Research has shown that banning books about the experiences and histories of marginalized groups of people increases feelings of exclusion and invisibility, and intensifies their risk of mental health challenges,” PEN America noted.
The PEN America analysis also sought to investigate the motives behind K12 book bans. Proponents of removing books often cite “explicit” sexual content but PEN America contends that only 13% of banned titles described sexual acts in any detail while about three in 10 books referred more vaguely to sexual experiences.
Other real-world experiences—on death and grief, violence, abuse and mental health issues—also made books targets of censorship, PEN America added.
