Each year during its Banned Book Week celebration, the ALA releases a list of the most "challenged" books of the year.  Throughout the year, it has a very active program to collect and record these challenges, and it does an excellent job of documenting each time anyone reports that someone has requested a governmental authority--including school boards, teachers, principals, librarians, city councils, etc.--ban access to a book, restrict access to a book, require a child to have signed parental permission to look at a book, stop a book from being read to a class by a teacher, use an alternate textbook, remove a book from a required reading list, or take any similar action. 

Most challenges occur in public schools, generally either as objections to the type of material made freely available to young children in elementary schools or as attempts to have books removed from mandatory reading lists.  While clearly any prohibition by a governmental authority to keep a book out of a public setting--including a school--is censorship and is in opposition to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution; however, this seldom, if ever, occurs, and the line simply isn't that clear in most situations. 

For example,

• When funds are limited and librarians or others make decisions not to purchase a book, or to purchase one book instead of another, is that censorship?
  

• When librarians or others make a decision to add or not to add a book to the library collection based on the their professional assessment of the needs or the expressed desires of their supported communities or schools, is that censorship?
  

• If a teacher takes the feelings or beliefs of students into consideration when determining which books to add or not to add to a required reading list, is that censorship?
  

• What if a teacher selects only books that demean a certain race or religion or promote only one particular brand of political or economic thought for assigned readings, is that censorship? 
  

• What if this occurs and parents subsequently object, are they attempting to prevent a teacher from exercising "academic freedom" or First Amendment rights?  (Actually, the extablished law is fairly clear in this instance.  In the United States, school teachers have no claim to "academic freedom"--and it's related First Amendment rights--as defined by the "1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure" and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court; that "academic freedom" is reserved for tenured professors at regionally accredited universities.)
  

Should these types of questions concern us, especially in light of the "culture war" that rages today?  I personally think so, even if I don't always agree that they are First Amendment issues.  A teacher's attempt or an instituition's attempt to mold the thoughts of students into any particular point of view rather than teaching them to critically evaluate a variety of viewpoints is a far more dangerous than a wacko parent who objects to a health text because it fails to recommend "Christian prayer" as a method of preventing stress.

So, if we should be concerned about possible challenges to First Amendment rights as they play out in public schools and libraries, how big is the actual problem?  Well, based on the records maintained by the ALA, the outright prohibition or banning of a book by any governmental authority in the United States almost never occurs, and challenges are incredibly infrequent as well.  In the eleven years between 1990 through 2000, the ALA received 6,364 reports of books being challenged.  That equates to just under 580 challenges per year. 

• As there are approximately 14,500 public school districts in the United States, this equates to approximately 1 challenge per year for every 25 school districts.

• As there are approximately 85,000 public schools in the United States, this equates to approximately 1 challenge per year for every 147 schools.

• As there are approximately 45,000,000 public school students in the United States, this equates to approximately 1 challenge per year for every 77,650 students.

Clearly, in the United States, very few citizens are initiating any of the actions that result in the ALA recording a challenge, much less requesting the out right banning or prohibition of any book.  Still it's worth knowing not only what books some folks challenge, but also why they the challenge them.  The list below identfies the most frequently challenged books of 2006, and contains a link to the top 100 challenged books in the eleven years from 1990 through 2000.