Of the millions of books in American public and school libraries, last year just 546 challenges were reported to the American Library Association (ALA). Of those, a mere 29 were removed from the shelves. Yet the ALA still likes to scream censorship every year during its Banned Books Week.
Candi Cushman, education analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said the complaints over books are well-founded.
"Most of these books donÕt end up actually being removed," she told Family News in Focus. "The few that do end up being removed are being removed mostly because they have sexual themes or are explicit."
The book that topped the list this year was And Tango Makes Three, the story of "gay" penguins. It's the second year in a row that a book with gay themes drew the most ire from parents.
"Parents have a right to object to their kids being exposed to material that they don't feel like their child is psychologically prepared to handle," Cushman said.
Over the years, 71 percent of the challenges have been to material in schools. Sixty percent of the challenges were brought by parents, 15 percent by patrons, and 9 percent by administrators.
David Miller of Ohio's Citizens for Community Values called Banned Books Week a farce.
"They have made up a Banned Books Week," he said, "where they try to focus attention on the fact that parents are getting involved in their kids' education."
