It’s almost amusing how badly Melania Trump flunks First Ladying 101. The role of First Lady is already poorly defined, and recent FLOTUSes have defined their roles in drastically extreme ways. Like, Laura Bush really didn’t do much, good or bad. She was sort of Stepford Wife-ish, but you can’t really point out one major flub or controversy with Laura. Michelle Obama, on the other hand, was a much more proactive and active First Lady, and you already know how I feel about Michelle (God, I miss her). I generally think Melania doesn’t give a sh-t – her ambivalence knows no bounds, which is why she flunks out on even the most mundane First Lady things. This is an example of that – someone in Melania’s office decided to set up something basic for National Read a Book Day on September 6th: one school in every state would receive ten of Melania’s chosen children’s books for their school libraries. One school library in Massachusetts rejected the books outright.
There are many places the first lady’s book donations could go … but apparently Cambridgeport Elementary School is not one of them. The librarian at an elementary school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, recently turned down a shipment of Dr. Seuss books from Melania Trump, criticizing the first lady’s choices as “a bit of a cliché, a tired and worn ambassador for children’s literature.”
The books were sent as part of a White House effort to mark National Read a Book Day on Sept. 6. One school from each state was chosen to receive ten Dr. Seuss books along with a letter from the first lady that read: “Getting an education is perhaps the most important and wondrous opportunity of your young lives,” reports CBS Boston. But Cambridgeport Elementary School’s librarian, Liz Phipps Soeiro, rejected the books — and explained why in an editorial for The Horn Book’s reading blog.
“My students have access to a school library with over nine thousand volumes and a librarian with a graduate degree in library science. Multiple studies show that schools with professionally staffed libraries improve student performance,” she wrote. Phipps Soeiro also faulted the first lady’s choice of books, which included The Cat in the Hat; One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish; The Foot Book; Green Eggs and Ham; and Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, CBS Boston reported.
“You may not be aware of this, but Dr. Seuss is a bit of a cliché, a tired and worn ambassador for children’s literature. As First Lady of the United States, you have an incredible platform with world-class resources at your fingertips,” the librarian also wrote, later adding. “Another fact that many people are unaware of is that Dr. Seuss’s illustrations are steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes.”
Several parents who spoke to CBS Boston while picking up their children outside the elementary school on Wednesday voiced their support for the librarian.
“That’s the librarian’s prerogative and I support her decision,” said parent Eric Munson. But the Cambridge school district reportedly released a statement saying Phipps Soeiro was “not authorized to accept or reject donated books on behalf of the school or school district.
“We have counseled the employee on all relevant policies, including the policy against public resources being used for political purposes,” the statement added.
At first, I was prepared to sort of half-defend Melania, but when I read the full story… I’m #TeamLibrarian. Do not f–k with librarians. Librarians might be our last defense as a society. Choosing Dr. Suess books to send to every library just seems like such a basic move. It’s like… oh, here, library, take this copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. Bitch, we’ve already got copies of To Kill a Mockingbird! We’ve already got copies of Dr. Seuss books. Try harder! As for Dr. Seuss’s racist illustrations… she’s not wrong. The librarian also pointed out that the First Lady’s office sent these books to one of the wealthiest and most resource-heavy schools in the state, and that perhaps Melania’s “gifts” would be better off going to some of the schools Betsy DeVos is trying to defund. I’d suggest everyone go read the librarian’s post in full, because she is fire. She’s amazing.
Melania’s director of communications, Stephanie Grisham, who must have come up with this Dr. Seuss scheme, released a statement which basically name-checked previous FLOTUSes (Michelle Obama, Barbara Bush) who cited Dr. Seuss as one of their favorite kids’ authors. Grisham also said that “To turn the gesture of sending young students some books into something divisive is unfortunate, but the First Lady remains committed to her efforts on behalf of children everywhere.” F–k her shoes.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Backgrid.
Brutal. Love it.
Savage.
My friends a librarian and they are savage af when it comes to students
LOVE THIS.
Head Bitch in Charge. I love her.
With that very terse wording from the school to support their librarian… *slow clap*
“I really didn’t realize the librarians were, you know, such a dangerous group. They are subversive. You think they’re just sitting there at the desk, all quiet and everything. They’re like plotting the revolution, man. I wouldn’t mess with them.” – Michael Moore
“Librarians see themselves as the guardians of the First Amendment. You got a thousand Mother Joneses at the barricades. I love the librarians, and I am grateful for them.” – Michael Moore
Not really, particularly since this dope has pictures of herself all over the internet DRESSED AS DR. SEUSS. Apparently, she decided Dr. Seuss was racist only AFTER she received those books from the First Lady, which is rather pathetic. She made a total ass of herself.
How does one dress as Dr. Seuss? Carry a pencil and a blank sheet of paper?
Now FLOTUS dresses like a Seussian CHARACTER from time to time. See recent pink outfit at the U.N. where she looked like an Easter marshmallow peep. No offense to peeps.
If FLOTUS wants to promote reading, choose schools that NEED the help and choose books that promote underrepresented diversity. Every elementary school & public library likely has some Seuss. She made an ignorant gesture, a patronizing act of showboating. All show, no substance. Much like a marshmallow peep.
This librarian for 2020.
This librarian is actually a legendary American Hero. Betsy Devos was hired to destroy separation church and state as it relates to education; her aim is to dismantle public education. Liz Phipps Soeiro stood up to this acid on the brains of our nation, her response is smart and courageous.
How on earth did her office decide to send the books to such a wealthy school district?? Do they do no homework at all?
They don’t give a damn about poor schools or their students. Especially if the students have darker skin.
This is my main objection. Everything else seems a bit like a misfire.
From what I read, they sent it to high-performing schools. B*tch, they are already high performing and most likely well funded due to our f’ed up approach to funding schools based on performance.
My school was a very good school in an affluent community and we got a huge gift from the government, like millions of dollars, for computers. Bill Clinton was president then, so I’m not completely sure this is new, or party based.
OT-
I agree completely. It’s part of the “run the government like a business” mentality of rewarding high performers and success. The government is not a business, and schools and districts that are low performing are not that way because of laziness. It’s a vicious cycle that is tied back to physical race and class boundaries that demarcate our entire country, especially in larger areas like Boston, LA, NYC, Detroit, Chicago, and my home turf ATL. My son went to private school last year but he’s in public school this year because we decided that if we are going to live in the district and pay the taxes for excellent schools, we should use them. ATL, like many other areas, is marked with some pretty clear class divides, and the schools show it-funding, performance, and ability to attract talent are all impacted.
This turned into a much longer comment that I planned to make in my sweaty gym clothes. Tl; dr:
Class and racial divides have contributed to poor schools, and punishing poor-performing schools is bullsh*t. This is one more example of the government highlighting high performing schools and not recognizing the underlying factors, such as better nutrition, better rest, better equipment, better resources, and better funding.
The “them as has, gits” approach in action. They really should have aimed at schools that were financially struggling but were trying hard regardless.
That’s what I don’t get – why not find a school in need? Why not send them a grant for book purchasing, or just a grant, as every school library would have different needs?
I’m sorry, this librarian really messed up….especially when you see photos of her wearing a Cat in the Hat costume! Not everything has to be a battle just because a Trump is involved.
I completely agree Talie!
pretentiousness in that library. I want to take a side, but they both suck, so i won’t.
I agree, Talie.
She didn’t dress up in the costume for fun. It was a requirement of her job. It was probably taken in 2014 when there were big celebrations in MA public schools due to the 100th birthday celebration of MA native Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss).
Then she should have made a point at that time to argue Dr Seuss is inappropriate. Doing it now is just political, not because she has a moral disagreement about Dr Seuss.
Nope she dressed up this past February and then Tweeted a picture of it.
We don’t know that she didn’t object at the time or every year on his birthday. I may have been wrong about the centenary (I saw one pic of her from 2015) but I know a fact that his birthday is celebrated in MA public elementary schools every year and pressure is put on employees to dress accordingly. You can drag her for rejecting the books when it wasn’t her place but I don’t think you can call her a hypocrite if she doesn’t really love Dr. Seuss.
Every Feb/March is Read Across America Day with the Cat in the Hat theme. That day isn’t the one created by librarians but the Education Association. It is pushed hard by the principals who often try to eliminate librarian positions in budget cuts. She wouldn’t have chosen it, and if her boss said, dress in the stupid costume, she would have. Librarians run National Library Week, Childrens Book Week, Library Card Sign Up Month, etc.
Donating sets of Dr Seuss was the cliche, simplistic thing to do, instead of M’s staff *thinking* about doing something useful regarding literacy. In the middle of this, her husband is trying to cut federal funding to libraries and museums via the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Many public/school/academic libraries and museums receive that funding as a pass through or fund programs through those grants. State library agencies, that run statewide programs like summer reading, interlibrary loan, run the library catalogs and websites for libraries? They often receive half of their funding from IMLS, half from local taxpayers. They cannot function without that IMLS funding.
(Yes, I know a lot of librarians).
absolutely. that’s absurd to make a donation political. bitch to your friends about it.
I would agree it’s pretentious if she had stopped at “Dr. Suess is a cliche” (even though he is). But I think it’s really valuable that she’s calling out the racist and harmful stereotypes in his illustrations. It’s something I hadn’t even thought about until now. I think she’s doing the Lord’s Work for that alone.
I agree. She did nothing wrong, it would be better to focus on her husband’s dangerous incompetence.
I agree. Plus it sends the wrong message to students. She should have accepted the books and donated them to a school (or daycare) in need.
@megan
+100 agree with you. I appreciate the librarian’s intent but as a teacher I don’t like the message turning away books gives to students. Donate them to charity or a doctor’s office, or to a school impacted by the hurricanes. I feel like this is playing into the right’s hand. We have so much to deal with her husband’s racist, lying, and possibly treasonous ways.
I have to agree with you here-her idiot husband has given us plenty of other things to focus on and protest. This is a story that will just encourage his garbage supporters to continue to scream the media is wrongfully railing against their hero.
It also dilutes our actual complaints about Trump when people choose petty things like this to get up in arms about. If the librarian wants to take on Dr Seuss then make THAT the issue and not Melania.
soooo this. Who cares if the first lady sent a poorly-calculated gift? Pick your battles wisely. Return them with a polite “no thanks” and a suggestion of better books and a needy local district that could use them. If children were my gig, I would be more ticked about Congress ignoring the expiration of the CHIP program, which will leave nine million children without healthcare.
Lives have been torn apart Round America, there are poor struggling schools everywhere, but this ridiculous cow couldn’t imagine sending the books to a charity, hurricane relief, an impoverished school? I can’t roll my eyes hard enough.
Agreed Talie. I’m not impressed with the librarian.
Well you must have missed the part where she told us about her graduate degree in library science.
@Steph – right? Michelle Obama is an intelligent woman and she read the books to school kids while she was FLOTUS.
BUT NOW….
Totally agree. While I don’t think the WH should have sent these books to a school in a wealthy area like this, I think this librarian is teaching kids the wrong lesson about kindness and acceptance of others. She may not like Melania and her husband, but it was a kind gesture to send children’s books to a school. I had no idea that people believe The Cat in the Hat and other Dr. Seuss books are racist and if they actually are, perhaps PBS ought not to air the Cat in the Hat series and schools shouldn’t have a national Dr. Seuess reading event every year.
(Also to note: I am not a Trump supporter. I think he is a terrible human being.)
I haven’t taken a look at Dr Seuss so I don’t know about the illustrations (I just like Horton the Elephant’s attitude toward the truth, and have labeled the cat carriers Cat One and Cat Two.) But maybe the animated shows got rid of anything objectionable? Does anybody know? I wonder if the book illustrations can be fixed.
I’m all for censorship in children’s books. Go ahead and get rid of racist stuff etc. , mark them as revised editions, and let the adults look at the uncensored versions for historical perspectives. There are so many creepy racist things in books even from the earlier part of the 20th century but otherwise they’re interesting glimpses into the past. I don’t like modernizing for the sake of pretending the world started at the current generation’s birth, though. I loved reading the old stuff when I was a kid even though it took a while to figure out the meaning of some of the words. Would have been nice to have a glossary in the original Nancy Drew books….
I think her larger point was that students in schools with proper funding and a school library do better. She addressed this first and provided an infographic: http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/aaslissues/advocacy/AASL_infographic.pdf that supports it. To focus on the Dr. Seuss argument takes away from an important point: schools are awarded based on test numbers and schools with a higher resources typically have higher text schools neglecting lower funded schools. xo- an Archivist aka librarian
Agreed. The gift of the Doctor Seuss books is generally sort of a tradition. Misfire here was the school district selected. She didn’t do that, her staffers did….it’s a new staff or young staff generally lacking in experience. However I feel like everything this woman does is simply picked apart because of whom she’s married to. I feel as if the librarian didn’t need to be so rude about it. She could have said that she would accept the books on behalf of a less fortunate School District and still been appreciative without rejecting the gift. Another school could have used those books.
Agreed Learned One. She could have thrown shade so much better like that than going off the rails and yabbering about dr seuss being racist. it’s absurd.
Yeah. I can’t stand Trump or this administration at ALL, but I just … really can’t get up in arms about this issue. Seriously. It’s some books sent to a library. Yeah, kinda basic, bland choice but whatever.
The librarian objected to the choice so what? Melania deserves to be called out sometimes for her laziness, and I am sure she will heal from the pain. Most women in her position would have done basic research to make sure they didn’t make a choice tied to any controversy, but lazy couldn’t be bothered.
I buy books for my kids, and there are thousands of choices with beautiful art and stories about friendship, sharing, compassion to fantasy and magic. But nope.
Why didn’t Miss Against Bullying But My Husband IS A Bully choose I don’t know a book against bullying?
The librarian is owed an apology for being subjected to Melania’s ignorance, stupidity and insulting lack of thoughtfulness.
I guess Michelle Obama is lazy and ignorant too.
+1 Tallie. Inappropriate and unprofessional to be political in this instance
Naturally there are going to be Russian Troll bots out to disparage her person online. So she’s “messed up” because she dressed like a Dr Suess character? ? Does that even make sense??
I agree with you too, Tallie! And also with Stephanie Grisham’s statement, “To turn the gesture of sending young students some books into something divisive is unfortunate, but the First Lady remains committed to her efforts on behalf of children everywhere.” sigh
Dr.Seuss books are in the waiting room of any doctors office I go to. It would have been better if books that aren’t commonly everywhere, were donated to the library. Seems like Melania didn’t put much thought into it, and just got the most basic children’s books to donate while she tried to look like she was nice and caring
This was also my takeaway. Tick box exercise by Melania.
One of my best fiends and colleagues is our school librarian. When she was a class teacher, reading, listening, comprehension and recount were a huge part of her teaching day. She refused to read Dr Seuss books that her pupils sometimes brought in (for very much the same reasons as Ms Pitt Soeiro) telling them that they were “home” reading books. Also, most children have their own copies at home, so have heard the stories countless times, if they’re lucky. Teachers at our school take a large selection of books for our classrooms, depending on our lesson plans for the term. We read these to the children, and they are free to read/look at them at various times throughout the day. I’m not a fan of Dr Seuss. We’ve been given several grants for our library, so our librarians were able to buy what our school needed. Perhaps it would have been bettter for MT to give a grant for books to a needy school in each state?
@Annakist does your library have Disney materials? Serious question because Disney is neck deep in racism, misogyny and anti-Semitism.
Five out of the ten books were by Seuss?
Just take that in for a moment. 50% are by one of and arguably the most well known children’s author.
She didn’t even bother to use google for this one, folks.
And targeted at young kids so they wouldn’t appeal to the 10 year olds in the school who would be the ones the librarians are trying to encourage to read on their own.
I think all of them are that age range too, I had a really hard time finding the complete list though. Did you see the whole thing listed anywhere?
I wonder if Melania can read in English. She would have known from reading to Baron that there are tons of children’s books that are more fun and compelling than Dr Seuss.
She never read to her son, she paid someone to do that for her.
HAHAHAHAHA!
Melania reading to Barron. Surely you aren’t serious.
This is a woman who bragged that he had a whole floor to himself. I don’t know of any attached parent who would put their only child on a floor by himself with “staff” unless it was an aristocratic family in 1900 where the children were presented for a half hour a day and then disappeared with Nanny back to the nursery.
That is why she had no idea what to send.
She speaks five languages, which is likely four more than you.
Let’s be honest. Melania didn’t pick the books, she didn’t pick the schools they were sent to. She took some photos and signed a statement someone else wrote for her. Her staff is just as inept as most of her husband’s staff is.
Yeah, I was also thinking she had zero input on this. And I agree her staff seems incompetent and out of touch.
She barely has a staff. The offices for her are empty, and she hasn’t bothered to hire anyone. The household staff has said how lively it had been with Michelle now it is silent.
Why wouldn’t they make sure those free books were going to underprivileged schools? I love this librarian.
The librarian was wrong to politicize the book rejection but those Dr.Seuss books are better suited to pre-school children. Poor decisions all around but I don’t think MT chose the books.
Dr. Seuss books would be more appropriate in a public library where parents of 2-4 year olds could access them.
Exactly this. Books to an elementary school should have been appropriate for a broader range of ages and reading abilities, as well as more diverse.
It’s fine to acknowledge high performing schools with an award, but donations of precious books and funds should prioritize districts with higher need.
The librarian didn’t have the authority to accept or decline the books – those decisions are made higher up but she makes several essential points. Key of which is that Trump & DeVoes want to gut funding for school libraries and may have, in fact, done so to find the money for the STEM project that Ivanka is claiming as her own, despite it having originated under the Obama administration, which couldn’t get funding from Congress for it. Additionally, there are so many school districts in need and simple research would have told them that the public schools in Cambridge, MA weren’t among them. There are other schools more needy even in MA. As to the subject of the books themselves, Melania & more importantly her staff’s knowledge of children’s literature seems to begin and end with Dr. Seuss, which, and I know we’re supposed to stay clear, makes me wonder if Barron is reading anything at all. She has read Dr. Seuss in hospital visits to children nearing their teens. Dr. Seuss is for young children but an elementary school is going to have older children who are beyond the Seuss demographic. A far better gift would be the latest award winners from Newberry and Caldecott.
That’s what the school district says…. but, I’m a librarian, and I can guarantee you the librarian can choose what to accept and not accept, donation wise. That’s pretty standard across libraries. No one else would want to do it because going through donations is so much work.
Tons of people think they are being benevolent donating their old books to libraries, but chances are if you don’t want to read them, no one else does either. Most donations libraries receive are falling apart or dated, and sometimes racist (last year, I had some try to donate a box full of old Little Black Sambo books). And instead of being incorporated in to the collection, the already busy librarian has to figure out how to get rid of boxes of… garbage, essentially.
Hence why many libraries have a “no donations” policies.
I had one librarian friend who snuck boxes of falling apart, often rotten-and-mouldy donations to the dump a few towns over. She had to do it under the cover of night because otherwise someone in her small community would complain she was wasting “good books”.
We’re assuming Melania even knows about this initiative? Really? I doubt whether Melania has even read a Dr. Seuss book (or like her husband, any other book for that matter). Limp on, you piece of crap excuses for FLOTUS and POTUS.
She has been reading Dr. Seuss books on her few hospital visits. Except most of the kids she reads to are beyond the Seuss demographic but she reads to them any way. These people do no research.
Has anyone thought that maybe the Dr Seuss books are the only books suited to Melania’s reading ability? Maybe she’s a proud non-reader like her asshole husband and this is all be appearances alone.
@Chrissy
Good point. I didn’t consider that. lol
Sorry I have to disagree. I think this librarian was out of line to make an issue of this. March 2 is National Read a Book Day in celebration of Dr Seuss’s birthday. Pretty much every kid I know dresses up in a Dr Seuss hat on that day – including the librarian in question here. Apparently she thought Dr Seuss was important enough that she wanted to dress up to celebrate the day. So really this comes across as an attempt to slam Trump more than her issue with Dr Seuss. Why didn’t she raise the issue of Dr Seuss not being appropriate for the school back on Dr Seuss day, when it would have been more timely to mention? I am not a Trump supporter so I’m not defending him but seriously why take the focus off reading if you are a librarian who wants to increase kids’ interest in reading. Furthermore, she’s a public employee. Making statements on behalf of the school district isn’t her job.
She may well have privately raised the issue with her school about Dr. Seuss on previous occasions. My sister is a teacher (also in MA) and participating in the Dr. Seuss Day celebration, including wearing a hat or a t-shirt, is not optional. I can’t imagine that a school librarian had a choice either.
I disagree with the idea that she must stay silent or she should be fired..but I do agree her timing of rejecting Seuss is certainly suspect, and weakens her ‘stand’.
This! She tweeted a picture of herself from her personal account dressed up as the cat in the hat. If you have a problem with Trump great I agree. But the idea that she’s so against Dr Seuss hold very little water . I doubt if she was “forced” to dress up she’s tweet out a picture.
Again, she was dressed up at school for Dr. Seuss Day. I don’t think she regularly dresses as the Cat in the Hat and tweets about it. But you obviously know better.
.
@Pedro then why did she share the picture on her personal Twitter account? If she was forced to do it, why show it off?
To roll her eyes with her other school librarian friends who were ordered to wear the damn costume that day too?
It is Read Across America Day, which is from the Education Association not the Library Association. It takes place on (or as close to) Dr Seuss’s birthday as possible. Great to have a day of celebrating reading, not so great to have it centered around one author’s old-school books and the empire his heirs profit off of.
Principals often try to cut librarian positions as the First Position Cut when budget cuts come. if her boss ordered her to wear the costume, she would have.
This does not come as an attempt to slam The Dotard. Before you criticize the librarian, perhaps you should take a time to learn more about Dr Suess. We all grew up on Dr Suess, but it’s disturbing that no one knew about the racist cartoons(the ones that aren’t included in his book) he drew as they slam the Librarian. Dr Suess did try to make amends in the 1940s for his earlier views. Those cartoons are apart of our history and no one seems to know that they exist.
I don’t know. Rejecting books just is off to me. My thoughts are that they should have been accepted, with a nice thank you letter, and then explained that they were being donated to a women’s shelter, or given to kids who live in a children’s aid home, or donated for christmas gifts for kids.
or if you dislike dr suess, keep them and buy and donate your own, again with a nice letter explaining why.
you just don’t send books away.
it’s not anything, for me, other than you just don’t reject books. I think a real learning opportunity was lost here, and now the focus is on the wrong issue, which should be getting kids to read more.
+1
I never want to teach a young child that there is “good reading” and “bad reading”. When you are young any book in the hands of a child is a good thing.
Also, it reminds me of how I teach my children to be thankful for any gift they receive even if it is something they don’t want or already have. They can give away duplicates and feel good for passing it along.
Because handing a 5 year old African-American child a copy of Little Black Sambo would count as “good reading”?
She didn’t have the authority to accept or reject the books. The school system will accept them and distribute them in the way the school system sees fit. Maybe as prizes or something.
Yours would certainly be a more gracious way to handle a situation like this. As for the book selection, all MT’s staff had to do was google Caldecott and Newberry Award winners. That would ensure that quality books are chosen, and also that there is a better age range.
That is my point too. I buy books for my kids all the time, and there are thousands of books to choose from that are captivating for young readers. This is lazy.
Then they can collect dust at the school. The books were wrong for the age group and reading levels for this children of the school.
I agree that “re-donating” the books would have been a better way to handle it. Make a statement that you think gifts would be better given to districts in need, and so you are doing that. And you could also mention your other concerns about diversity etc in a way that educates people who have no idea of the background.
The official journal for her profession, School Library Journal, and JUST published an analysis of how racist Dr Seuss books are. She was doing her job by rejecting this thoughtless donation.
Things have been sh*t and awful and heinous the last few days especially, and #TeamLibrarian is a soothing balm.
Yep. Right or wrong to some people. IDGAF anymore. At some point, we don’t have to accept what they throw out just because it is polite if we don’t want to based on our beliefs. It was a wrong choice. She said so. Now everyone across the country knows.
I can’t figure out why this school was chosen to receive the books. They don’t need them. Seems like a provocation. Why is every darn thing this administration does so weird?
All it would have taken was time and effort to discover the names of current children’s authors. Dr. Suess is common and everywhere. What library wouldn’t already have them? Just lazy and uninspired.
Thanks for making this excellent point!
I would have gone with Asterix boks myself.
Thirded. Accept with grace and let them know they would be donated to a source in higher need. I completely understand why she did it, but would have turned it into a donation experience for the students.
My friend is a bus aid and I pass along books to her we get for free. She passes them out on the bus and a lot of kids read instead of misbehave.
I’ll give Laura Bush this-she launched the Ready to Read, Ready to Learn initiative for early childhood education, founded the National Book Festival and the Laura Bush Foundation has awarded over $14 million in grants to school libraries. I wanted to despise all the Bushes, but as a fellow librarian I had a little bit of respect for Laura.
Laura did promote reading very well. It’s a shame Melania didn’t reach out to her, they could have worked up a grant program instead of this.
Reading the librarian’s letter, what caught my eye was that the books had some sort of embellishment stating they were from FLOTUS, and were all shipped 2nd day air. $$$$ They could have instead sent monetary grants to probably 10xs the libraries, had they not spent so much on these 10 books per school.
Definitely grants for buying books would have made so much more sense, since the librarians would know what kinds of books were needed for their collection and which ones needing more copies because of demand. Is it really common just to send a set of new books without asking the librarians ahead of time?
The White House could have gotten plenty of PR out of it by asking the librarians to report back on what books they selected. Maybe even have cute little descriptions of the books by kids who read them. Book reports by eight year olds are generally rather adorable. Nowadays they could even send Melania little videos.
The librarian was wrong to do this because she was not authorized to act on behalf of the school system she works for. Her points are excellent ones, for sure but this should have been handled differently because the political statement was not made on a personal platform. This was one of the main reasons given here in support of the firing of that one Kentucky clerk of court who was fired for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.
Librarians are always free to reject books, especially those that are not needed or wanted by their library. They have authority over their collection and the knowledge to build a collection for their community. To reiterate what was written above, most librarians I know take boxes of donations and immediately turn them into book sale fodder.
Even brand new books donated to a library still need to be processed and covered in expensive plastic covers if they aren’t the permabound or bound-to-stay-bound sturdy copies that the school needs. Ditto teen and adult books, which often have library-specific sturdier bindings created for heavy use; your everyday hardcover may fall apart after being thrown into the book drop. When they purchase the items directly from their niche suppliers, the books come already-processed which saves time and money.
IMO it is always better to offer donations of funding to your local library (school or public). If you want to donate books, donate them directly to the library Friends group who will sell them.
She erred by publicly politicizing the book rejection, clearly without consultation with or direction from the school system. The books were donated to the library, not the librarian.
Your other points are interesting and informative, though not surprising. I follow your comments and have often found you to ge knowledgable and widely read. Thanks for taking the time to explain things 🙂
If someone doesn’t stir the pot, things don’t change. I applaud this librarian for stirring the pot. If she had donated the books we wouldn’t be having this discussion.
I would have donated them to a school with fewer resources. An elementary school with over 9,000 volumes? Wow.
I’m curious to know if anyone commenting on this article works with kids/are teachers and if they are noticing the downward intellectual trend we are seeing in our students?
Kids need books. Kids need books so badly right now. We are so ultra dependent on technology and social media that we are losing a generation of students. I work at the high school level at a top tier school and we are seeing each incoming class being less read, less able to critically think, and exponentially more dependent/needy. Are there better children’s books? Of course. But do we really need to applaud this librarian for pushing her own political agenda? Professionally, she really need to just keep promoting books and reading.
I’m not seeing what you’re seeing. I teach in a high school in which the students are intellectually curious and up for a challenge. I thank their former teachers and their parents for that. Technology is just a tool like anything else. Used correctly, it can be an aid to learning and research. We just teach them how to use it correctly.
I would be curious to hear about your school. Do you have a cellphone policy? Are you 1:1? What are your classroom sizes? Do you find that your kids communicate as well as they did 10 years ago?
As a professional, why should she push inappropriate books that are part of someone’s political agenda?
Give me the receipts on how these books are part of someone’s political agenda and how Dr. Seuss is inappropriate.
So should every “professional” around the world who teaches Dr. Seuss be told to stop?
In 2015, an illustration that Dr Suess drew in 1929(he was 25) went on auction and no one bid on because it was racist. He depicted African Americans as very dark and with very big lips and the sign included in the cartoon stated, “Take home a high grade N for your woodpile Satisfaction guaranteed”.
Why are people attacking the librarian for taking the time to know history? We were ingrained as children to love Dr Suess, but we were never told about those horrible parts of his life where he wrote and drew offensive ads and political cartoons.
D Train, see the articles I listed lower down, including an article from School Library Journal from September of this year about the overt and subliminal racism in Dr Seuss books.
Dr. Seuss is hardly the vehicle to inspire reading in children.
Reading is one of the biggest gifts you can give to children but you have to catch them by giving them a book that holds their interest and inspires them to want more.
“Dr. Seuss is hardly the vehicle to inspire reading in children.”
I am now convinced that you don’t actually have children.
My kids and the kids I read with in extra reading support LOVED the rhythmic nature of Dr Seuss. The easy flow of the words makes kids feel confident when reading it aloud to others. Yes, I agree that as a parent it is boring to read them TO the kids but the kids seem to really enjoy reading them back. I like to think that is a win.
Whatever Melania does, or wears, will be criticized by someone.
Poor thing…😐
Maybe we should start a gofundme page for the poor dear to help soothe her hurt feelings. She is lazy and doesn’t hire a staff to help her get it right. So she will continue to fail and be criticized.
It can’t be okay for Michelle Obama to employ Dr. Seuss in a reading and not the person we have now. At the very least, we can’t behave the way those for whom we are opposed behave. I refuse to be hypocritical in this heightened state of hypocrisy and irony. The librarian was over the top…I may very well agree with her, but she’s given the other side a viability they so desperately need because for the most part, they’re screwed. We shouldn’t hand them bad manners and hypocracy.
Our city librarian would gladly take your Twilight or 50 Shades books donation but will thoroughly judge you for it. Dr. Seuss, really? Every second hand bookstore bargain bin carries at least 5 Seuss titles. Book donation boxes often contain them (along with right wing biographies). Maybe they are so common and cliche that no one wants to cherish them. Melania, that is like bringing a sad potato salad on your potluck dinner.
Hell no to this librarian. Sorry but this is mean and petty af.
Also I’m African American and love Dr Suess so I’m gonna be sad if the racist allegation has any basis.
It sounds as though he had reformed by the time he was writing the famous Dr. Seuss books. It’s his prior history that is pretty ugly, but he came to realize it and did try to openly change. He should be commended for that. Change is good. Public atonement is good.
I’m in the camp that the librarian politicized this affair. All of a sudden Dr Seuss is a racist series? Please.
Have you ever taken the time to see his other illustrations(the ones that are not included in his books) that Dr Seuss drew? The librarian wasn’t politicizing anything. This is just another matter of people not knowing history.
There was an article about one of his illustrations(it was called “The World’s Most Preposterous Department Stores”) going to auction and no one bidding on it because it was racist. He drew a group of African Americans(he made them very dark and with really big lips) being auctioned off and then on a sign on a wall, he wrote “Take home a high grade N for your woodpile Satisfaction guaranteed”. In his early years, Dr Suess drew racist things, but around the 1940s he started to see the error of his ways and started drawing anti-racist things.
We all grew up on Dr Seuss and I never knew this about him until I read that article about no one bidding on his art. He also drew anti-Japanese cartoons.
He also later realized he was wrong and tried to make amends in his later writing. ‘Horton Hears a Who’ was written after a trip to Japan where he met and became friends with several Japanese people.
But those racist images he created are still out there.
Based on the attacks on the librarian, people are not aware of Dr Suess earlier history. This is where it goes wrong. People are asking what’s wrong with Dr Suess. The librarian knew what was wrong and she refused to act like those earlier images don’t exist.
blueb, please see the article I listed below (cannot get links to go through). It is from School Library Journal from September of this year, detailing the overt and covert racism in Dr Seuss’s childrens books.
School Library Journal, September 12, 2017
Is the Cat in the Hat Racist? Read Across America Shifts Away From Dr. Seuss and Toward Diverse Books
“In March 2016, Ishizuka wrote a piece on the website Blavity about Seuss’ anti-Japanese cartoons, along with work that used the N-word and depicted blacks at a slave auction or rendered to resemble monkeys. She also pointed out images portraying Middle Eastern men as camel-riding sultans and women as hyper-sexualized harem dwellers. But what Ishizuka found even more troubling were racist images hidden in plain sight in Seuss’s popular picture books. Ishizuka, who holds a Master’s degree in social work, conducted a critical race analysis of 50 children’s books by Seuss and found that 98 percent of the human characters were white, and only two percent were people of color.”
Then why didn’t this librarian make a big deal about Michelle Obama reading Dr. Suess books to children?
Because Michelle didn’t send her Dr Suess books.
And what about you? You’re all over this thread talking about how great this is and trying to convince people that this librarian is right about Dr. Seuss and racism. Did you say a thing to anyone about it when Michelle Obama was reading it to children? Or is this a new crusade because it was someone close associated with Trump? Do you not see the hypocrisy here?
Reading a book and donating books aren’t the same thing.
@magnoliarose but since Dr. Suess books are racist, wouldn’t reading them to children be just as bad? Wouldn’t having the First Lady read you a book be a memory you never forget? So those kids have the memory of the First Lady pretty much pushing “racist propaganda” (the librarians words) on them. Hell, at least with donated books, you aren’t being forced to read them.
This isn’t really about Dr. Seuss, Nick, and you know that. This is about “getting” that b*tch Melania Trump. If Michelle Obama had sent those books, that librarian, magnoliarose, and everyone else here would be licking her a**hole right now and praising her to high heaven. That’s just the way it is.
Was Dr Sues racist when Michelle Obama was reading it to kids (plenty of pics and videos of that)……or did it just become racist when it was linked to Melania Trump?
Look I can’t stamd her husband. But this reeks of hypocrisy and double standards.
I agree with you.
Read this from PBS.Org, which is not exactly representative of a bastion of wing-nuts:
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/politicaldrseuss/
See
Business Insider, March 23, 2012
Before Dr. Seuss Was Famous He Drew These Sad, Racist Ads
The Atlantic, August 15, 2017
Reading Racism in Dr. Seuss
A children’s-literature scholar argues it’s time to acknowledge the perturbing themes in some of the most beloved books.
School Library Journal, September 12, 2017
Is the Cat in the Hat Racist? Read Across America Shifts Away From Dr. Seuss and Toward Diverse Books
“In March 2016, Ishizuka wrote a piece on the website Blavity about Seuss’ anti-Japanese cartoons, along with work that used the N-word and depicted blacks at a slave auction or rendered to resemble monkeys. She also pointed out images portraying Middle Eastern men as camel-riding sultans and women as hyper-sexualized harem dwellers. But what Ishizuka found even more troubling were racist images hidden in plain sight in Seuss’s popular picture books. Ishizuka, who holds a Master’s degree in social work, conducted a critical race analysis of 50 children’s books by Seuss and found that 98 percent of the human characters were white, and only two percent were people of color.”
Earlier in his career(1920s to 1940s), Dr Suess drew racist advertising and political cartoons. It wasn’t until the 1940s that he saw the error of his ways and attempted to atone for what he did.
I honestly don’t understand why so many commenters are complaining that Dr. Seuess books are a cliche, which suggests they believe that they don’t think there’s a compelling reason for kids to read them. Would you say the same thing about Goodnight Moon? The Catcher in the Rye? To Kill a Mockingbird? The Harry Potter books? Little Women?
All of those books are also widely available and there are millions of copies in print. I think there’s some value in reading classic books. My young daughter loved “Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?” and “The Lorax.” The stories were new to her and lots of young kids just like her.
I do somewhat agree with the criticism about sending widely-available classic books to a library, which likely already has them. I’d have preferred the White House to send books like “Last Stop on Market Street,” or other modern classics which some libraries might not have. But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with promoting classic books.
The most disturbing thing about this situation is what little people know about Dr Suess racist cartoons. People are attacking the librarian instead of actually taking the time to learn who Dr Suess truly was.
From the 1920-1940 Dr Suess drew racist political and advertising cartoons. These cartoons were very offensive. He drew African Americans with very dark skin and really big lips. He drew the Japanese with squinty eyes and big teeth.
1940s, he attempted to atone for his earlier racist views by drawing anti-racist cartoons.
Melania could have donated books from Solvenia that were translated into English. Or favorite books of Barron’s that she or the nanny read to him.
She might have made the choice to pick this book – she had mentioned before it’s he son’s favorite.
However, I’m appalled that a librarian would stoop to the Trump’s level. Instead of being gracious and just accepting the gift however awkward it may have come off, she made it nasty political statement.
An official journal for her profession, School Library Journal, had JUST published an article in September about how racist Dr Seuss books are. She was doing her job to reject a thoughtless donation.
So then why wasn’t Michelle Obama doing her job when she read these books to children? And No one said anything about them being racist? Your double standards are showing.
I hate Trump and everything he represents and I hate when people step down to his level. We should go high, not low.
And like clockwork. Drumpf or his wife criticized for something? Try to turn it around and blame the whole thing on the Obamas or Hilary Clinton.
Showing up and playing the traditional put on the hat, read Dr Seuss game on the RAADay (which is on Dr Seuss’s birthday, hence the whole Cat in the Hat theme) is one thing. Just like the librarians have to suffer through wearing the stupid costume each year. But the profession itself is now questioning the promotion of those books and is trying to move the emphasis that day away from Dr Seuss to other authors.
Choosing to donate collections of his books to schools without thinking about it is lazy. There are far better authors and books to donate, if someone’s staff wants to put in the effort.
Oh I don’t know. After many First Ladies reading the books in question and the librarian herself sporting a cat in the hat look – gotta call BS
This was a gratuitous A-hole move IMO
Agree.
I love that some people are still trying to make this an attack against the Dotard and attacking the librarian instead of addressing the real issue, which is that Dr Suess drew and wrote racist cartoons.
During a time when racism was the social norm. He also spent the rest of his life trying to atone for it. Many of his books preach tolerance and acceptance.
Just because racism was a social norm, it doesn’t mean that Dr Suess had to go along with it. The racist images that he produced are still out there. The librarian reminded the world of this and now she is being depicted as the villain?
He did come to regret it later in life, but it is important to acknowledge his previous work in light of his later ones. We are responsible for our choices, even if we renounce our views later. It’s important to let kids know that society sometimes instills us with ugly ideas and be vigilant in recognizing them but that they can be addressed with proper education.
Ok I read up about the racism allegation. It’s disappointing but you know what his kids books don’t contain racism.
Yes the illustrations are and were hurtful. But they are not what he is known for. Also I read that he became ashamed of those illustrations as he got older.
And Sorry but “Dr Suess” is the Michael Jackson of kids literature. Is MJ a cliche too because he was so great? I guess so but it doesn’t change the fact he was great. I still think the librarian is being petty and stupid. Hey I can’t wait til Trump is out too! I can still be base level gracious though.
Yes, his kids books do include loads of racism. Please see the article I’ve listed multiple times on this thread.
No one author or book is going to fit every kid. There are plenty of other (and better IMO) authors and illustrators for kids than Dr Seuss. Promote them. Make a donation of funding to the libraries so they can purchase the books they want/need, instead of shoving useless books down the throats of our schools as part of a politics-based PR campaign to make it look like Melania Trump is doing something useful.
Just Google “Michelle Obama reading Dr. Seuss” and you’ll see that the librarian is just after Trump.
Typical FauxNews game; Drumpf criticized, blame the Obamas or Clinton.
That whole reading day is based on Dr Seuss’s birthday. Show up, put on the damn hat, and read one of his books. Then move on and promote better and more suitable books, as the profession itself is starting to do.
Not surprising she did that, nor would it be surprising if Melania Trump did that too this coming March. The difference is showing up for one themed event promoting reading vs. a thoughtless donation of unwanted books to random 50 schools in the US.
Your first statement oversimplifies my position. I happen to think Trump is a terrible president, and I was not “blaming” Michelle Obama for reading Seuss, lol. Just pointing out that she apparently had no problem with the books. I think the librarian’s letter displayed shocking arrogance and condescension.
And as I wrote above, there is a difference between showing up for the RAAD event vs. lazily purchasing his books for 50 random schools because you aren’t willing to put in the effort to do something better.
Most elementary school libraries HAVE the full Seuss collection and don’t need additional copies. The average 3rd – 6th grader has moved beyond Seuss. This whole thing was nothing more than a PR attempt to make Melania look good while Ivanka and Betsy wipe out library funding.
That’s precisely why what the librarian did was important. People have completely erased those racist parts of his life.
While I respect this librarians stance, I have to admit I’m feeling mighty bad for Melania. She getting heavy heat for just being married to this man, one she wasn’t expecting to run for president. She lived for money and luxury and doesn’t have a clue about American culture and education. I personally don’t expect her to. She doesn’t want this job. Like anyone who doesn’t like or want their job, you’re not going to perform at any great level, but do what you have to do to get though it.
She knew exactly what kind of a man he was when she married him. She knew that she would have little-to-no-agency in the marriage in terms of decision-making but that the trade-off would be a palace, several vacation houses and financial security for her and her son.
Sorry but I just refuse to feel bad for her. We all knew what kind of a shitbag Trump was since he became a real estate fixture in the 80s. I’m sure as his wife, she has intimate knowledge of who he is so she can hardly feign shock. Also, she’s not being held hostage, she has the freedom to divorce him if it’s that unbearable for her.
Whatever sympathy I had is gone. She is lazy and inept and gets all kinds of passes she does not deserve.
You feel bad for her? I don’t have one ounce of sympathy for this chick. She knew exactly what she was getting into with this creep, and she’s loving every second of it. She’s the mail order bride who accepted his marriage proposal.
I know what you’re saying….but even so….
If he never won the presidency, there’s no doubt he’d be married to a 4th and much younger wife, since in his world she isn’t any good anymore. But then again she’d have a nice settlement ,her son, and free time to do want she wants in NYC.
Very inappropriate of her considering I’ve seen photos of Michelle Obama reading “The cat and the hat” to kids. Seriously hypocritical of y’all. Shame shame.
Who is defending Michelle reading Dr Suess books? The problem is that for years no one had addressed Dr Suess’ racist ideals and how he transformed them into drawings. The librarian comes along to remind the world that Dr Suess isn’t a hero and rather than accept what she is saying, people attack her.
@why? The “cat in the hat is a black minstrel” accusation isn’t a widely accepted thing (in schools or academia, and I know both). It’s not really well-supported at all.
As himself (Theodore Geisel) he was hired to make some pretty terrible cartoons for the War Department. He knew it, and admitted it. If you read the themes in all of his different kids books as Dr. Seuss (anti-racist, anti-facist, pro-environment, etc.) you can see that the he was refuting what he created for the propaganda department.
This is also totally why we can’t have nice things–by default, she has said the Obamas (who both recommended, gave, and read aloud from Seuss books) are racists. Total head-palm.
This is where the problem lies. Stop making excuses. Dr Suess was racist, he created racist cartoons and political ads. In one of his racist cartoons he depicted African Americans with very dark skin and with big lips and he used a racial slur. In another cartoon he depicted Japanese people with squity eyes and big teeth. What isn’t acceptable is defending this type of behavior by claiming that “he changed” or that it doesn’t matter anymore because times have changed. Just face the fact that Dr Suess as hero is not going to be accepted as long as those images he created still exist.
Could you please name me exactly which children’s books you’re referencing?
Why are you working so hard to convince everyone that Dr Suess wasn’t racist and that his racist works depicting African Americans and Japanese don’t exist? You seem to think that arguing that Dr Suess changed, that the racist works don’t exist, and that it doesn’t matter now because times have changed will vindicate Dr Suess. It doesn’t. Your desire to present Dr Suess as a hero just makes what the librarian did even more important.
I posted an article of one of the racist works created by Dr Suess, but this site wouldn’t let it through moderation.
Like I said, it’d be awesome if you have the names of children’s books Seuss wrote postwar (not cartoons Geisel made for the War Department during WWII).
Like I said, it would be amazing if you stopped trying to change the narrative. Dr Suess was a racist and he created racist cartoons and political ads. You claim that you have a degree in literacy, but you keep denying that Dr Suess’ racist works exist. Your only defense is that the racist works don’t exist. Denying that it doesn’t exist isn’t going to make it go away.
I was going to say that I don’t find this to be the most effective form of political dissent, but honestly, after the response to last night and given the Puerto Rico situation from the past two weeks, f*ck it. F*ck this administration and f*ck the people who keep supporting them. Getting told off about their Dr. Seuss books is the least they deserve.
Maybe because Tangerine 45 is an unrepentant racist the Librarian felt this wasn’t the book for this time in our history. There has been enough racism by this family, and it is better to steer far away from anything remotely connected to racial insensitivity.
Not to mention they probably have enough of them.
A little research would have solved this easily.
First hook-er should read a book first herself instead of focusing on her designer dresses and robotic posing
LMFAO!!!!
hook-er/mail order bride!
There is a vug under our rug and a wocket in our pocket. Not today satan. I had so much stuff I wanted to reply to, but just got off the phone with mom and there was a driveby on Sat with no injuries. So the comment seems shit other than, yes, literacy opens the world..
That is a rude librarian. Say “thank you” and donate the books to the other 1274 million students who don’t have nice, new books. I don’t like how even a harmless, nice gesture is met with hate?!?!?!
So should we throw out all Disney as well?
Many school and public libraries have thrown out some Disney books and films, notably Song of the South and other versions of Uncle Remus.
Super head-palm. The point about school funding is great. “My-kids-are-beyond-this” kind of unnecessarily snarky. But why throw in this whole not-accepted-by-academia-thing-someone’s-pet-theory that Seuss is completely racist?
Not only does it distract from the good first point, you’ve opened up good people to unnecessary criticism. So anyone every caught on camera reading a Seuss book to kids–Obamas included–is now a racist…? Stay on message, seriously.
Dr Suess was racist. What is distracting are those people attacking the librarian because she refused to ignore that part of Dr Suess’ history.
@why? How exactly/where exactly are you getting that? I live in both the academic and school worlds, and trust me–it’s a very fringe theory. As an employee of the War Department, Theodore did cartoons (against the Axis, who had declared war against us). Later, he tried to make good as Dr. Seuss by creating books that were anti-racist, ant-fascist, and pro-environment.
And yes, this librarian does sound to me like one of those undergrads who reads something in philosophy or sociology and gets all gung-ho without thinking too deeply. Because yes, this is bad politics for the progressive side. No one is talking about the real issues–school funding–but are arguing about whether the Obamas were wrong to read Seuss. Stick to the real message, please.
MGM, please go read the articles I’ve referenced multiple times in this thread. “Fringe” theories do not get published in the professional journal for school media librarians – ie. School Library Journal. The article is about an analysis of his picture books as a whole.
“But what Ishizuka found even more troubling were racist images hidden in plain sight in Seuss’s popular picture books. Ishizuka, who holds a Master’s degree in social work, conducted a critical race analysis of 50 children’s books by Seuss and found that 98 percent of the human characters were white, and only two percent were people of color.”
If you could link them again, that would be greatly appreciated.
So why am I skeptical of Ishizuka’s analysis? Firstly, the School Library Journal ran an article about Ishizuka (not by her) and had to cite the conflict of interest–she’s a cousin of Kathy Ishizuka, SLJ’s executive editor. Second, she’s promoting her own business interests: the “Conscious Kid Social Justice Library” which is a subscription service. Thirdly, she admits she hates how popular an author Seuss is with kids because of the work he did with the War Department (she’s Japanese-American and her grandparents were interned).
So she is absolutely right there are few human characters, and those that exist are white. But has she proved it is racist…? C’mon.
As someone who has a masters degree in Literacy, not social work, I’d argue the right move is to widen a school’s collection to be more diverse. More representation of more kids of people. But then again, I also aren’t going to be making any money off of this.
Why are you working so hard to change the narrative that Dr Suess was a racist? We know that Dr Suess was a racist because of his work. He made the decision to depict African Americans and Japanese in an offensive manner. Making good doesn’t erase the fact that Dr Suess created racist images of African Americans and Japanese. No matter how hard you try to spin it, the librarian wasn’t wrong. What’s wrong is trying to change the narrative when you know that there is information out there contradicting you.
I provided you an article about one of the racist works that Dr Suess created, but this site wouldn’t let it post. You have a degree in literacy, yet you keep arguing that the racist works created by Dr Suess don’t exist?
More articles that discuss Dr Suess’ racism and how his racist work is being omitted to change the narrative:
Seuss Museum: ‘Premature’ To Discuss Plans To Address Racist Cartoons
New England Public Radio
By ALDEN BOURNE • SEP 19, 2017
MGM you are spot on. Thank you.
@gwen
of course you think that MGM is spot on, you are a Trump supporter who just last week called Hillary old and said that the people didn’t vote for her.
Honestly, is that really helpful? I can tell you’re angry, but c’mon. This is a place people come to have real discussions, not to have people be snarky and obnoxious.
The only one angry is you. You were being snarky and obnoxious with all your posts telling me that Dr Suess isn’t a racist and that his racist works don’t exist, so what’s your point?
The person who wrote that comment in support of you, is impersonating someone else. If you check at her other past comments, the comment that she made to you isn’t what she normally posts.
Here is some information for those arguing that the librarian was wrong and that Dr Suess wasn’t a racist, in the article it mentioned how in 2003, people objected to Dr Suess being used as a figurehead for the Read Across America campaign because of his depictions of the Japanese.
Racist Dr. Seuss drawing up for auction
CNN
By Melonyce McAfee, CNN
Updated 2:05 PM ET, Fri May 29, 2015
I’m not sure that giving back books given to children and then publicizing and making it political is amazing at all. Sorry. In my neck of the woods, whatever the politics, it’s called bad manners.
@Bothsidesnow: THIS x 1000
When the books are lazily selected and proven to be both racist and unneeded? Nope, it is called doing your job.