The Signal

The Normalization of Book Banning in the United States, With PEN America’s Sabrina Baêta

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“In 2025, book censorship in the United States is rampant and common. Never before in the life of any living American have so many books been systematically removed from school libraries across the country. Never before have so many states passed laws or regulations to facilitate the banning of books, including bans on specific titles statewide. Never before have so many politicians sought to bully school leaders into censoring according to their ideological preferences, even threatening public funding to exact compliance. Never before has access to so many stories been stolen from so many children.” 

This is the introduction to PEN America’s Banned in the USA 2024-2025 report “The Normalization of Book Banning.” As part of the Bucks County Beacon’s Banned Books Week coverage, we speak with one of the author’s of this report – Sabrina Baêta. 

Sabrina is a senior program manager with Freedom to Read at PEN America. She engages in research and awareness-building around censorship attacks on public K-12 education, especially as it relates to literature accessibility in libraries and classrooms. 

Listen on Apple, Spotify, and iheart 

READ:

  • The Quiet Creep of Censorship: How ‘Everyday Banning’ Is Reshaping American Schools, by Tabitha Dell’Angelo
  • We Must Continue to Defend the Freedom to Read in Central Bucks School District, by Karen Smith
  • Banned Books Week: A Local Reflection From a Pennridge School District Dad, by Darren Laustsen
  • ‘This Book Won’t Burn’ Celebrates Student Resistance in This New Era of Book Banning, by Lauren Bradley 

    • ALSO LISTEN TO:

    • The History of Fascism and Anti-Fascism in America, with Bill Mullen and Christopher Vials
    • This Bucks County Dad Took His Child’s School District to Court to Uncover a Secret Book Banning Scheme
    • Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider on Their New Book ‘The Education Wars: A Citizen’s Guide and Defense Manual’
    • Black History Is a History of Resistance and Liberation, with Rann Miller
    • Fighting for Students’ and Teachers’ Rights in Central Bucks School District, with ACLU’s Witold Walczak
    • Unmasking Moms for Liberty’s Extremism, with Olivia Little and Diana Leygerman

      • Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 

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        The SignalBy Bucks Co Beacon