The American Library Association (ALA) has reported a record high in the number of books banned in US libraries in 2025, with 5,668 titles removed. This represents 66 per cent of the total number of challenges, and an additional 920 books were censored through access restrictions such as being relocated on shelves.
The most-banned book was Sold, a 2006 novel by Patricia McCormick about sex trafficking in India. Other frequently challenged titles include The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe and Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas.
Challenges were recorded against 4,235 unique titles in 2025, the second-highest figure since the ALA began tracking data more than 30 years ago, only topped by 4,240 titles in 2023. The ALA also found that 40 per cent of challenged materials involved representations of LGBTQ+ people or people of colour.
Sarah Lamdan, executive director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, said: “In 2025, book bans were not sparked by concerned parents, and they were not the result of local grassroots efforts. They were part of a well-funded, politically driven campaign to suppress the stories and lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ and Bipoc individuals and communities.”
The organisation noted that 92 per cent of challenges came from pressure groups, decision-makers or government officials, up from 72 per cent in 2024, while only 2.7 per cent were attributed to parents and 1.4 per cent to individual library users. Several US states, including Florida, Texas and Utah, have enforced laws limiting books on sexual orientation and gender identity in schools, and Iowa recently won a court ruling to implement such restrictions.
