Palin, 451

Among the many startling accusations against Sarah Palin in the new profile of her in The New York Times, this one truly stands out: Not only did Palin want the Wasilla librarian to ban books, but she is alleged to have personally pushed for a particular book to be removed before she became mayor:

Witnesses and contemporary news accounts say Ms. Palin asked the librarian about removing books from the shelves. The McCain-Palin presidential campaign says Ms. Palin never advocated censorship.
But in 1995, Ms. Palin, then a city councilwoman, told colleagues that she had noticed the book "Daddy's Roommate" on the shelves and that it did not belong there, according to Ms. Chase and Mr. Stein. Ms. Chase read the book, which helps children understand homosexuality, and said it was inoffensive; she suggested that Ms. Palin read it.

"Sarah said she didn't need to read that stuff," Ms. Chase said. "It was disturbing that someone would be willing to remove a book from the library and she didn't even read it."

“I’m still proud of Sarah,” she added, “but she scares the bejeebers out of me.”

This is not the only accusation that Palin personally targeted a particular book for removal from the library on ideological grounds. For years, social conservatives had pressed the library director to remove books they considered immoral.“People would bring books back censored,” recalled former Mayor John Stein, Ms. Palin’s predecessor. “Pages would get marked up or torn out.”
Witnesses and contemporary news accounts say Ms. Palin asked the librarian about removing books. It's also worth noting that Rev. Howard Bess, a liberal minister from the nearby town of Palmer, has accused Palin of successfully getting his own book, Pastor I Am Gay, banned from the library while she was mayor.