Censorship of books and learning materials is a growing trend nationwide, according to responses from a 1980 survey of 1,891 public elementary and secondary school administrators and library personnel from across the country and of state administrators overseeing evaluation and adoption of textbooks in 21 states. This summary and interpretation of…

This full report of a nationwide survey provides data on the range of procedures and policies currently followed in selecting textbooks and other instructional materials, the extent to which these materials have been challenged, and the resolution of such challenges. The survey sample comprised school administrators and library personnel from…

A survey designed to investigate how challenges to school library materials relate to the overall selection process found that (1) the number of challenges increased steadily with increasing grade level; (2) local challenges were more restrictive than state challenges; and (3) active challenges affected administrators' selection, making them more…

A national survey reveals that, although selection and review procedures can help when school materials are challenged, there is no substitute for good community relations in reducing those challenges in the first place. (Author/JM)