New York: A new report on book bans in US schools finds Stephen King as the author most likely to be censored and the country divided between states actively restricting works and those attempting to limit or eliminate bans.

PEN America's “Banned in the USA”, released Wednesday, tracks more than 6,800 instances of books being temporarily or permanently pulled for the 2024-25 school year. The number is down from more than 10,000 in 2023-24, but still far above levels of a few years ago, when PEN did not even see the need to compile a report.

Some 80 per cent of those bans originated in just three states — Florida, Texas and Tennessee — which have enacted or attempted laws calling for removal of books deemed objectionable. Meanwhile, PEN found little or no removals in several other states, including Illinois, Maryland and New Jersey, where laws limit the authority of libraries to pull books.

“It is increasingly a story of two countries,” said Kasey Meehan, director of PEN's Freedom to Read programme. “And it's not just red states versus blue states. In Florida, not all school districts responded to calls for banning books. You can find differences from county to county.”

King's books were censored 206 times, with “Carrie” and “The Stand” among 87 of his works affected. The most banned single work was Anthony Burgess' 1960s dystopian classic “A Clockwork Orange,” removed 23 times. Other heavily restricted works included Patricia McCormick's “Sold”, Judy Blume's “Forever”, Jennifer Niven's “Breathless”, and books by Sarah J. Maas and Jodi Picoult.

Reasons for bans included LGBTQ+ themes, depictions of race, violence and sexual violence. PEN noted that thousands of books were removed pre-emptively to avoid community or political backlash rather than in response to direct threats.

The Department of Education recently ended a Biden-era initiative to investigate the legality of bans, calling the issue a “hoax.” PEN's numbers also include removals by the Department of Defence from K-12 libraries for military families, linked to opposition to DEI initiatives.

In Florida, where more than 2,000 books were banned or restricted, a handful of counties accounted for many King removals. Meehan said districts, “in being overly cautious or fearful of punishment,” often ended up removing King's books along with LGBTQ+ or race-related titles.

PEN's methodology differs from the American Library Association, which only counts permanent removals. Both groups admit data gaps, relying on media reports and direct submissions. Some states had no banning data due to lack of documentation.

“It's become harder and harder to quantify the scope of the book banning crisis,” Meehan said. “Our data is a snapshot of what was publicly reported or uncovered by journalists.”