Each year the Library Research Service collects data on the state’s public libraries via the Colorado Public Library Annual Report survey. A section of that survey is focused on formal challenges to materials receive by libraries throughout the year. The American Library Association (ALA) defines a challenge as “an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group…Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others.” In the 2005 survey, 26 public libraries from across the state reported 104 formal challenges. Seventeen more challenges were reported for 2005 than for 2004, and 41 more challenges were reported for 2005 than for 2003 (see Chart 1 in full report).
Highlights
- Of all reported challenges, 21 percent concerned the Spanish language comics called fotonovelas.
- In 2005, only 3 items were challenged more than once at Colorado public libraries: Oregon Trail, Paris Trout, and Angels in America.
- By far, the most frequent reason given for challenging materials in the library was that the content is “sexually explicit.”
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