Censorship in American schools and libraries : a local survey

Abstract

The research involves more than fifteen local high schools, middle schools, and public libraries. The research's aim is to investigate on the actual state of censorship in children's literature in local educational institutions and in the entire public library system of the Mahoning Valley. After historical sociological analyses of the censorship phenomenon as a whole, the statistics on the most frequently banned books at a local area are compared with the national survey complied by the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom. A subsequent local vs. national comparison of the reasons why such books cannot enter classrooms, school libraries and public libraries is done. Finally, the YSU English Festival is taken as an example of best practice against censorship. The results of the survey clarify what Youngstown students grow up reading, why it is so, and how this affects society as a whole.