This chart was fascinating. I found some listings fully credible, such as those for Texas and Florida, after serving as the book critic for Ohio's largest newspaper and a vp of the National Book Critics Circle.

But I couldn't quite fathom how Alabama (one of American's three or four most conservative states) could get the same rating as Massachusetts (one of the three or four most liberal) when those states are typically poles apart in such ratings. I live in Alabama and have lived in Massachusetts--in both cases, for years.

So I looked up the statewide figures for Alabama, and they nominally jibe with yours. But I also found in that here in Alabama these issues are handled at the local rather than state level.

In other words, there may be more going on here than your chart suggests: for example, Alabama is so conservative that it may have a low ban rate because librarians won't even buy these books because they know they'll be challenged. The same may also apply to the low ban rates for Louisiana and Arkansas.

I'm glad to have these figures, but I'd encourage anyone who's considering using them to dig deeper rather than taking them as definitive.