Despite claims that America is the land of free speech, activist groups of a certain persuasion have spent plenty of time trying to get books banned for being too Black, too queer, or both. To mark National Library Week, the American Library Association (ALA) released its list of the most challenged books of 2025.
According to the ALA, 2025 was the second-highest year of book challenges, only coming slightly behind 2023’s record 4,240 challenges. The ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) found that 4,235 unique titles were challenged in 2025. The ALA found that individual, concerned parents only made up 3% of the challenges filed last year.
An overwhelming 92% of all book challenges last year were filed by “pressure groups, government officials, and decision makers,” a 20% increase from 2024. “Of the unique titles challenged in 2025, 1,671 (40%) represent the lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ people and people of color,” the ALA’s statement read.
“In 2025, book bans were not sparked by concerned parents, and they were not the result of local grassroots efforts,” Sarah Lamdan, Executive Director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, said in the release. “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 ALA’s 11 most challenged books of 2025 are as follows:
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
As this list was released in honor of National Library Week, I cannot stress enough the importance of supporting your local library. Supporting your library can be as simple as signing up for a library card. Simply doing that shows there’s a demand for your library and the resources it provides. Even if you don’t see yourself checking out books regularly, your local library likely has a wide variety of free resources for you to use.
As a result of creating content for a parks and recreation department, I’ve become very familiar with the public library’s resources. Don’t want to carry around a physical book? There’s a strong chance your local library has access to digital libraries such as Cloud Library, Hoopla, and Libby, which provide both e-books and audiobooks. I cannot tell you how many comic books I’ve kept up with thanks to Hoopla.
Want to learn a new language? Your local library may provide access to Mango Languages, so you don’t even have to shell out money for Babbel or Duolingo. Some libraries even offer skills training courses, such as LinkedIn Learning. I know that one of my local libraries provides access to a 3D printer, a laser cutter, and an audio/visual production studio. Quite a few libraries even offer culture passes that give you free access to museums and other cultural institutions.
I was so annoying about convincing my friends to get library cards, but they’ve all come to appreciate the resources it provides. Libraries and literature are under attack by groups who directly benefit from an undereducated society and want to further alienate marginalized communities. If you want to help defend against these attacks, get a library card. I’m telling you, you’ll be surprised how much you’ll be able to get out of it.
SEE ALSO:
National Library Week Is Here: 7 Ways Libraries Show Up For You
Philly’s First Black-Owned Bookstore To Receive Historical Marker
