The fight against book bans is entering a new phase, as the number of bans plummets but concerns grow that librarians and teachers, looking to stay out of the fray, are self-censoring.

Data shows a surprising and significant drop in book challenges from the 2023-2024 school year to the 2024-2025 term after years of increases in bans among classrooms and libraries.

Instead, advocates trying to protect the right to read are now not only battling banned books in the courts but looking to provide legislative protections to officials who fear retaliation based on the titles picked for students.

During the 2024-2025 school year, PEN America found 6,870 instances of book bans. In the 2023-2024 school year, they hit a record high of 10,046. PEN America defines a book ban as any instance where a book is removed or access is restricted in response to a community challenge, administrative decision or threats from government officials.

"I think if you look at the official numbers that we see reported through [the American Library Association] and PEN America, they're going to say that this issue is getting better, but unfortunately, we're just seeing it move into what we call silent censorship ... people being afraid to buy certain books or certain authors, and we're seeing this across the industry,” said Rosie Stewart, head of public........

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