The blog Towleroad had a guest blogger on 9/8/2008, Ryan Quinn. Mr. Quinn grew up in Wasilla, and corroborated much of what we have heard in other sources. Sarah Palin Was My Mayor:

But she did try to use her power to ban books. Wasilla’s popular public librarian rightly objected, and the community rightly backed the librarian. The books were never banned, though Mrs. Palin did fire the librarian for not agreeing with her political views, then rescinded the firing after it was clear she’d made an unpopular decision. Sarah Palin’s behavior is revealing: in a state as isolated as Alaska, in a town as small as Wasilla, books are vital to the culture and to the education of its residents. The small town values I learned growing up included attending story hour at the public library. Those values most certainly did not include trying to ban books that the mayor’s church friends didn’t think other people should read.

Thank you for your insight, Mr. Quinn!

And thanks for the tip, Gwen!