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For a book to be "Banned" some one or a group has to "Challenge" it. Much like an award book has to have a nomination first. If a library or school actually bans the book by taking it out of circulation it becomes banned at that location (library, school, country etc.) only. Because it is a form of censorship it becomes "big news" in the media world.

"In the US, many books have been challenged by a variety of groups and agencies in order to prevent a particular work from being read by the general public" (wikipedia).

Here are some fun links to find more information

• Challenges over the years(Scroll to the bottom after clicking on the link. See if you can find the one from Utah!)
• List of most banned books
• A Google map showing where are they banned
• A cool Flicker image of banned books
• Banned blog (blocked at school!) It's a blog.
• http://www.youtube.com/bannedbooksweek
• About Banned (or challenged) books

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Excerpts from the Freedom To read Act.

1. "It is in the public interest for publishers and librarians to make available the widest diversity of views and expressions, including those that are unorthodox, unpopular, or considered dangerous by the majority."
2. "Publishers, librarians, and booksellers do not need to endorse every idea or presentation they make available. It would conflict with the public interest for them to establish their own political, moral, or aesthetic views as a standard for determining what should be published or circulated."
3. "There is no place in our society for efforts to coerce the taste of others, to confine adults to the reading matter deemed suitable for adolescents, or to inhibit the efforts of writers to achieve artistic expression."
4. "It is not in the public interest to force a reader to accept the prejudgment of a label characterizing any expression or its author as subversive or dangerous."
5. "It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians to give full meaning to the freedom to read by providing books that enrich the quality and diversity of thought and expression. By the exercise of this affirmative responsibility, they can demonstrate that the answer to a “bad” book is a good one, the answer to a “bad” idea is a good one."

Read the whole thing here