Book banning seems to many to be an archaic concept. Yet, as antiquated as a ban may seem, censorship is still an important part of U.S. literary culture. Book bans are most often successful at the level of young adult literature. Parents and other objectors use the censorship process in an attempt to protect children and young adults from books they believe are dangerous. Public libraries, school libraries, and English classrooms are where these censorship attempts are conducted, often successfully. In fact, over 97% of challenges take place in public libraries, school libraries and classrooms (“ALA Challenges by Initiator”). When these challenges succeed, they also succeed in taking important, compelling, and useful literature out of the hands and minds of readers. students. Banning books in public schools and libraries is immoral, counterproductive and unnecessary; not only is it impossible to protect young people from the themes found in realistic fiction, but these themes often serve as incredible coping tools and powerful teaching tools. Why ban books in the first place; What is the purpose of taking literature out of reach of young people? Those who challenge do so for a variety of reasons. Parents, community members and religious groups usually question the books in an attempt to protect the youth of the community from things that are contrary to their value system. They hope that by banning these literary pieces they can protect their children and the community from overly mature or immoral topics. These pieces of contested literature run the gamut of subjective and objectified content. Books banned in the last decade include I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou which was banned...... middle of paper ......Association. Network. August 13, 2011. Blume, Judy. “Judy Blume Talks Censorship.” Judy Blume on the web. Network. August 07, 2011.Blume, Judy. Letters to Judy: What Your Children Wish They Could Tell You. New York: Putnam, 1986. Print.Boston, Rob. “Fanning the Flames: The “Golden Age” of American Book Burning.” Humanist68 (July/August 2008): 36-37. Foerstel, Herbert N. Banned in the United States: A Reference Guide to Book Censorship in Schools and Public Libraries. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1994. Print.Moon, Jin. “Freedomforum.org: A Popular Children's Author Tells the '3 S's' of Book Censorship.” The Freedom Forum. Network. August 14, 2011. "Parental Consent Informed in Advance." Pabbis.org. Network. August 13, 2011. Wood, Cindy. "CNS STORY: The Vatican Newspaper says the values ​​of the Harry Potter films are champions." Catholic News Service home page. Network. August 14. 2011.