These Were The Most Challenged Books in the US Last Year, According to the American Library Association
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Since 1990, the American Library Association (ALA) has tracked books being challenged across the United States. These are documented and recorded challenges, either listed by the staff or shared with the staff by library personnel. The opposite challenges to book banning are complaints About the content; Challenges may result in a book being banned, but can also result in books being easily moved, modified, or banned. These may also result in no action being taken.
Each year, ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF) shares the top 10 most challenged books across the country during National Library Week. Here’s what’s topping the list for 2025.
8. (tie) A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
8. (tie) Similar by Ellen Hopkins
8. (tie) looking for alaska by John Green
8. (tie) storm and fury Jennifer L. by Armentrout
The Most Challenged Books list is not the only information released annually by ALA. Their new report highlights several other key elements of this moment of censorship. Among them:
- ALA’s OIF tracked 4,235 unique titles The past year has been challenging. This is the second highest number documented by ALA; The highest number was in 2023.
- OIF tracked 5,668 books banned in librariesWhich represents 66% of the total number of documented challenges. This is the highest number of books banned in a single year documented by the ALA.
- 920 title from all those challenges were banned; They were either relocated to the library or required parental permission slips to access them.
- 40% title challenges Featured LGBTQ+ people or people of color.
- 92% all the challenges were pressure brought about by groups and government officialsWhich is more than 72% a year ago. Less than 3% of challenges originated from individual parents.
Sarah Lamdon, executive director of ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom, said, “In 2025, the book bans were not imposed 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.”
These numbers are different Recorded by PEN America Every fall. There are several reasons for this, including ALA’s small staff (OIF has three staff members), the definition of what is tracked (PEN, for example, has a more broad definition of “restrictions”), the breadth of information passed through each organization (ALA tracks all types of libraries, not just school libraries), and much more. The data differences are not as meaningful as the fact that the American Library Association and PEN America are providing a solid body of information about the methods and methods of book censorship at this time. Neither can accurately capture the full range of book censorship because so much is undocumented, nor can they tell what the most significant number of book bans are: quiet/soft censorship.
What those who pay attention to these most banned/challenged lists will notice when comparing titles between ALA’s collection and PEN’s is this: Because ALA tracks all types of libraries, it becomes apparent that titles on PEN’s list change more frequently because once a book is banned from schools, He’s gone. The title often does not reappear each year because it has been retired, and other schools quietly take the title back. ALA, in searching data involving public libraries, has a larger pool to inspect and thus, titles often appear for several years. we know What starts in schools doesn’t stop thereAnd the data shows it.
“Libraries exist to create 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 of knowledge, access, and belonging for all.”
More about the American Library Association Top 10 Most Challenging Books for 2025 Can be found on its website. ALA has also updated several of its resources to protect the right to read, including Censorship Search Portalwhich allows people to search OIF’s extensive database to learn about efforts to ban books censorship case bot On BlueSky, which provides real-time updates on the latest book censorship litigation in partnership with the Free Law Project.