PEN America Warns of Rising Anti-Intellectualism

PEN America reveals a surge in school censorship, with nonfiction book bans doubling in the 2024-2025 school year. Across 23 states, over 1,000 nonfiction titles were removed, a trend the organization links to a rising “embrace of anti-intellectualism” and political attacks on expertise and LGBTQ rights.

This is no longer a peripheral debate about a few controversial novels in a small-town library. We are witnessing a systemic shift in how American students access factual information. When the target shifts from fiction to nonfiction—biographies, history books, and health guides—the goal is no longer just to protect children from “mature themes.” This proves an attempt to curate reality itself.

The erasure of nonfiction from classrooms creates a dangerous vacuum of knowledge. For parents and educators facing these restrictions, the struggle often moves from the school board meeting to the courtroom. Navigating the intersection of local school board policy and constitutional law is a complex legal battle, often requiring the expertise of seasoned civil rights attorneys to protect the First Amendment rights of students and staff.

The Anatomy of the “Facts & Fiction” Report

The data released on May 7 in the report titled “Facts & Fiction: Stories Stripped Away By Book Bans” paints a stark picture of the current educational landscape. From July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, the scale of removal was unprecedented.

The most alarming trend is the acceleration of nonfiction censorship. The number of nonfiction works targeted has more than doubled compared to the previous year. This suggests a strategic pivot in the book-banning movement: it is no longer enough to remove stories that imagine different worlds; there is now a concerted effort to remove books that describe the actual world.

PEN America, which has monitored these trends since 2021 with the mission to “celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible,” notes that these bans are not random. They are often tethered to broader political movements, specifically those targeting LGBTQ rights.

Defining the “Book Ban”

To understand the scope of this crisis, we must first understand what constitutes a “ban.” In the current climate, a book doesn’t have to be burned or physically destroyed to be banned. The criteria are far more subtle and administrative.

• Content-Based Action: Any move against a book based specifically on its subject matter.
• Challenge-Driven: Removals triggered by parent or community challenges.
• Administrative Mandates: Decisions made by school officials to restrict access.
• Governmental Pressure: Action taken in response to direct or threatened mandates from lawmakers or other government officials.

Whether a book is completely removed from a library or its access is simply “diminished” or “restricted,” the result is the same: the student is denied the information. This restriction of access is a direct challenge to the principles outlined in the Bill of Rights, which protects the freedom of speech and expression.

“When we move from banning ‘offensive’ fiction to banning factual nonfiction, we are not protecting children; we are insulating them from the complexity of the human experience. This is a direct assault on the concept of an informed citizenry.”

The Rise of Anti-Intellectualism

The report identifies a core driver behind this trend: a widespread “embrace of anti-intellectualism.” This isn’t just a preference for simpler explanations; it is a systemic “skepticism, disdain and devaluing of experts and expertise.”

When experts in history, science, and sociology are viewed with suspicion, the books they write—and the books that cite them—become targets. This creates a ripple effect. As schools strip away biographies and memoirs, they are essentially erasing authentic stories and histories. This leaves students without the tools to critically analyze the world around them, making them more susceptible to misinformation.

This intellectual vacuum often forces communities to seek outside help. We are seeing a rise in the need for independent educational consultants and literacy non-profits who can provide students with the supplemental materials and critical thinking frameworks that are being stripped from the public school system.

A Legal and Social Minefield

The tension between parental rights and student access to information is currently playing out in state legislatures across the 23 affected states. While some argue that parents should have total control over the materials their children encounter, legal scholars argue that the “right to receive information” is a fundamental component of the First Amendment.

Organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union have frequently stepped into these gaps, arguing that school libraries should serve as gateways to a wide array of ideas, not as mirrors reflecting only the views of the most vocal critics in a community.

The impact on local infrastructure is also notable. School boards are becoming battlegrounds, with meetings devolving into shouting matches and administrators facing immense pressure from both the U.S. Department of Education guidelines and local political mandates. This instability affects teacher retention and the overall quality of the learning environment.

The doubling of nonfiction bans is a warning sign. It suggests that the movement to restrict information is gaining momentum and expanding its scope. If the current trajectory continues, the “Facts & Fiction” report may be viewed as the baseline for an even more restrictive era of American education.

The true cost of these bans isn’t measured in the number of books removed, but in the curiosity extinguished. When a student discovers that a book about a real person or a real historical event is “forbidden,” the message is clear: some truths are too dangerous to be known. To combat this, communities must look beyond the school walls to find verified professionals and organizations dedicated to preserving the integrity of information. Whether it is through legal advocacy or alternative educational support, the fight for the classroom is ultimately a fight for the truth.