Info
Since 1990, the American Library Association (ALA) has tracked the books being challenged across the United States. These are documented and recorded challenges, either cataloged by staff or shared with staff by library workers. Challenges, as opposed to book bans, are complaints about materials; challenges can result in a book being banned, but they can as easily result in books being relocated, redacted, or restricted. They can also result in no action being taken at all.
Every year, the ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF) shares the top 10 most challenged books across the country during National Library Week. Here’s what topped the list for 2025.
1. Sold by Patricia McCormick
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
3. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
4. Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
5. (tie) Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
5. (tie) Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
7. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
8. (tie) A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
8. (tie) Identical by Ellen Hopkins
8. (tie) Looking for Alaska by John Green
8. (tie) Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout
The most challenged books list isn’t the only information ALA releases annually. Their new report highlights several other key elements of this moment in censorship. Among them:
“In 2025, book bans were not sparked by concerned parents, and they were not the result of local grassroots efforts,” said Sarah Lamdan, Executive Director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. “They were part of a well-funded, politically-driven campaign to suppress the stories and lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC individuals and communities.”
These numbers differ from those recorded by PEN America every fall. There are numerous reasons for that, including ALA’s smaller staff (the OIF has three staff members), the definition of the thing being tracked (PEN has a more broad definition of “ban,” for example), the breadth of information being passed through each organization (ALA tracks all types of libraries, not just school libraries), and more. The data differences aren’t as meaningful as the fact that taken together, the American Library Association and PEN America are providing a solid insight into the ways and hows of book censorship at this moment. Neither can accurately capture the full range of book censorship as so much goes undocumented, nor can they account for what likely constitutes the most significant number of book bans: quiet/soft censorship.
One thing that those who pay attention to these most banned/challenge lists will notice in comparing the titles between ALA’s compilation and PEN’s is this: because ALA tracks all types of libraries, it becomes clearer that the titles on PEN’s list change more frequently because once a book has been banned from the schools, it’s gone. The title doesn’t often reappear every year because it’s been removed, and other schools follow in quietly pulling the title. ALA, in exploring data that includes public libraries, has a bigger pool to observe and thus, titles frequently appear for several years. We know what begins in the schools doesn’t stop there, and the data reflects that.
“Libraries exist to make space for every story and every lived experience,” said ALA President Sam Helmick. “As we celebrate National Library Week, we reaffirm that libraries are places for knowledge, for access, and for all.”
More information about the American Library Association’s Top 10 Most Challenged Books for 2025 can be found on its website. The ALA has also updated several of their resources for protecting the right to read, including the Censorship Search Portal, which allows people to search OIF’s expansive database to learn about efforts to ban books and the Censorship Cases Bot on Bluesky, which provides real-time updates on the latest book censorship litigation in partnership with the Free Law Project.
🏷️ Books_feed