While book bans are on the rise this academic year, Virginia readers have experienced zero instances of book bans, according to a new report, as Congress pushes to compel more book bans through the law.
The report by PEN America, a free expression organization, found nearly 12,000 book bans happened in the 2025-26 school year, the highest single-year total ever recorded. Fiction books, especially young adult fiction, were the most commonly targeted and book bans overwhelmingly targeted books dealing with race, LGBTQ+ characters and sex.
Jennifer Deuell, community services manager for outreach and engagement at the Richmond Public Library, said librarians consider it a core tenet of their profession to protect the right for people to freely access and read the books they want…