The First Amendment, Children, the Internet, and America's Public Libraries

Abstract

In 1996, the American Library Association reported 664 formal challenges to material in schools, school libraries, and public libraries. Although that figure reflects a decline for the second year in a row, it is significant and cause for concern, in part because it reflects a net 25 percent increase in challenges during the past five years. Moreover, each of those challenges involved a formal request or demand that something be removed from a curriculum or library, thereby seeking to restrict access by other students or patrons. Judith Krug, Director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom, estimates that for each challenge reported, four or five may go unreported. And, for every formal challenge, there are likely to be many informal complaints.