April 22, 2026 – This week, the American Library Association released its Top 11 Most Challenged Books List of 2025 as part of the 2026 State of America’s Libraries Report. Released on Right to Read Day, which kicked off National Library Week, the report documents censorship challenges, literacy efforts, and federal library advocacy.
The ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) tracked 4,235 unique titles challenged in 2025, the second highest ever documented by ALA. The highest ever documented was 4,240 in 2023.
ALA documented 713 attempts to censor library materials and services, 487 of which targeted books. In 2025, 92 percent of all book challenges were initiated by pressure groups, government officials and decision makers, up from 72 percent in 2024. Less than 3 percent of challenges originated from individual parents.
Of the unique titles challenged in 2025, 1,671 (40%) represent the lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ people and people of color.
ALA defines a “ban” as the removal of materials from a library based on the objections of a person or group. A “challenge” is an attempt to have a library resource removed, or access to it restricted, based on the objections of a person or group. In 2025, OIF documented 5,668 books banned from libraries (66% of the total challenged). An additional 920 books were censored through access restrictions such as relocation or requiring parental permission. This is both the highest number of titles censored in one year and the highest rate of challenges resulting in censorship from 1990–2025.
The top 11 most targeted titles in 2025 were:
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
Read The State of America's Libraries Report to learn more.