I dislike how vague the term 'banned book' is. In the U.S., are there any books that are really banned, e.g. unable to be sold, purchased, possessed? My understanding is that a 'banned book' means that it's a book that's unable to be used in some (federal, state, local) government-funded capacity, like public school or public libraries.

Some printed media, explicit pornographic material for example, probably shouldn't be in a public school. Most of these 'banned books' aren't so explicit, but many parents don't want their taxes to be put towards exposing children to ideas that they don't agree with. This isn't necessarily right, but I think it is understandable, especially in more conservative states like Texas.

I personally feel that information (including books) should be open and free, but the majority of Texans (and people, really) probably don't hold that view.