Attempts to ban books from school libraries in America are on track to rise again this school year, after reaching historic highs last year, a pair of national reports has found.

The studies, released over the weekend by the American Library Association, known as ALA, and PEN America, a nonprofit devoted to free expression, both suggest that the number of books being targeted for removal from school libraries is on track to exceed the thousands targeted last year. And both counts are likely significant underestimates.

The association’s report documents 681 attempts to ban or restrict access to 1,651 different books in schools between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31 of this year. In 2021, the association tracked 729 efforts to ban or restrict access to 1,597 books — which at the time represented the highest tally of attempted book bans in one year since the association began studying the issue two decades ago. For comparison, book challenges and bans hovered around the high 200s and the high 400s between 2018 and 2020.

The PEN America report found that, between July 2021 and June 2022, there were 2,532 attempted book bans targeting 1,648 unique books. This newest count builds on a PEN America report published in April that found slightly more than 1,500 attempted book bans, targeting about 1,000 titles, between July 2021 and March 2022. Until last year, PEN America had not tracked these numbers in detail.

Both reports found that the texts being challenged are overwhelmingly those written by or about people of color or LGBTQ individuals.

Both Jonathan Friedman, director of free expression and education programs at PEN America, and Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA’s office for intellectual freedom, warned of dire consequences for the current generation of students — even in the cases where attempted book bans fail and texts are returned to shelves, or where students find ways to access books on their own outside.

“When you dictate what people can read, what people can choose from, that’s the mark of an authoritarian society, not a democratic society,’’ said Caldwell-Stone.

Friedman argued that children can learn to feel ashamed of certain identities when books featuring them become banned. "That stigma can have psychological impacts on young people and their sense of belonging," he said, "and the imagination they have about the stories they themselves could eventually write."

The spike in book bans and challenges come amid an education culture war that has seen parents, teachers, school officials, students, politicians, and pundits battle over how educators should teach about race, racism, American history, gender identity, sexuality, and LGBTQ issues. Hundreds of laws have been proposed, and dozens passed, including bills that limit teaching in these categories.

At least six states have also passed laws targeting school libraries. These mandate parental involvement in reviewing books, making it easier for families to remove books or restrict the texts available at school. Five more states are considering such legislation.

The most challenged book for the second year in a row was Maia Kobabe's "Gender Queer," a memoir about being gender nonbinary, the ALA found. Of the 10 most challenged titles, five feature LGBTQ content or characters and five feature protagonists of color.

Both PEN America and the ALA have found that many book bans are taking place clandestinely, outside the rules. Caldwell-Stone said the ALA is seeing a spike in outcomes where school board administrators ignore written policies and, instead, “immediately remove a book, and often that book just disappears.’’

Friedman estimated that what PEN America has tracked might be only 25 percent, at most, of the number of books being challenged or publicly or quietly yanked from shelves in school districts across the country. PEN America’s report was based either on media reports or on the reports of individual district employees who contacted the group directly. The ALA report was based on news reports, public records, and tips and reports given directly to the association.