I’m wondering why this particular school was chosen. Doesn’t sound like they needed the books. Perhaps if they had been donated to a school in a less fortunate area, the response would have been a lot different.
I didn’t grow up reading Dr. Seuss books, so I have no emotional attachment to them. But it does strike me as rude to reject a gift like this and in such a haughty manner. If the library didn’t need them, the school could have distributed them amongst the student body. I’m sure even fancy-pants schools still have students who are in need of books at home.
Yeah. And I mean, talk about tone deaf, too. It sounds like something a caricature of a Millennial hipster would say. Except an actual, real person said it.
That librarian is wrong
As wrong as can be
Dr. Suess is still cool
Take it from me.
My son read his books
While he sat in my lap
He read them at lunchtime
Before taking a nap
He’s a bigger boy now
But he keeps those books yet
And will give them away
To his own son I bet
Then … do one of the obvious things: Box up the books and drive them to a needier school. Or else donate them to individual children in various ways – battered women’s shelters, pediatrician’ offices, libraries in poorer communities, etc.
Or, if you’re somehow worried that giving away her gift will be seen poorly, keep the books and give your existing copy away to some other needier location.
Reading the lady’s editorial/blog thingie, I’m not inclined to think much better of her decision.
It seems that the books were to serve as a sort of “usable award” for the school’s excellence, which is why this school received them and not some random low income school. The woman seems to miss that point. Then she gets into the whole “Pfft, Dr. Seuss” thing including calling his books racist and then offers her own list of curated politically correct stuff like “Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation” and “Mama’s Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation”. Which may be wonderful books in their own right but comes across as eye-rolling when you’re saying “We don’t want your tired, cliché and racist ‘Green Eggs & Ham’ for our beginning readers”
Oh, thank goodness. People have been sharing this librarian’s letter admiringly all over my Facebook feed, and I was beginning to think I was the only one who thought it was smug, tacky, and pretty much guaranteed to reinforce the worst stereotypes conservatives have about liberals. (In the original letter, she doesn’t just describe Dr. Seuss as cliched, but as “steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes” – offering as her evidence two very early books that weren’t actually included in the gift, plus the fact that somebody somewhere wrote an academic book that argues that The Cat in the Hat draws on tropes of minstrelsy. This strikes me as a rare legitimate example of Political Correctness Gone Mad.)
Refusing a gift is the height of bad manners. If the library didn’t want them, why didn’t they donate them to someone else. My library gets book donations that we don’t want, and we donate them to other causes, or put them on the free shelf, where people can take them, no questions ask.
I personally think that quoting that part out of the entire letter makes it sound much worse than it is. The letter contains a bunch of paragraphs thanking them for the gesture behind it, and acknowledges how the children appreciated it.
It then points out that they have a very large library, and that their school doesn’t really need the books. Only then does it include the comment about why Dr. Seuss is not a good choice. As an ambassador for reading, Seuss is a cliche. She then argues that there are racism issues in the illustrations and points out that certain other book organizations are moving away from using Seuss.
She then follows with another very sincere thank you for the gesture. She just argues that the gesture could have been better thought out. She asks them to learn about children’s lives through other books.
I’m not saying I agree with her, but I definitely agree that the letter was well-written. She comes off not like those quotes sound by themselves, but as quite respectful and appreciative of the gesture. And the context makes me think it’s not about the contents of the books that are cliched, but the idea of giving out Dr. Seuss.
The racism arguments I could do without. But I do not see them as being hatefully articulated. And I do not think that the studies that have been done in this matter are invalid. I just think they muddy the waters unnecessarily, and will be read as claiming that the Seuss repertoire is racist in and of itself.
Still, my take away from reading the letter is far different than my takeaway from the OP. I invite you guys to read it, and see if you agree.
Here is anArchive.org link in case the controversy results in the letter being taken down or changed. There’s another site that I can’t think of which would be better, but I’m not finding it on Google. (It lets you archive things on demand.)
I think that you’re reading more into my OP than I actually put there. I’m FAR more interested in the current thinking regarding the works of Dr. Seuss than the actions, motivations or political leanings of the librarian.
There’s always some jackass who tried to prove their superiority by not liking what other people like.
Dr. Seuss remains some of the most outstanding kid’s stuff ever written. Of course there’s other excellent children’s literature, but come on.
Reading the whole letter, I don’t think she gets the idea of a gift. If someone gives you some honorary trinket, which is basically what this way,the correct response is “Thanks.” If you already have a copy of The Cat In The Hat, donate one copy to a thrift store so someone else can have it.
If this woman won a gold medal, she’d complain that it’s not practical clothing.
Defending a Trump is hardly the point,
That’s not what has us all out of joint.
The insult to FLOTUS is merely a ruse,
The problem we have is dissing the Seuss.
I read out loud the entirety of Green Eggs and Ham in Target the other day to a friend. It was, as always whenever I read out loud, done with plenty of dramatic interpretation. Several people stopped to listen; at the end, I was cheered.
If Dr. Seuss is cliché, may we all end up equally clichéd.
I’m sure I posted about this in another thread quite awhile ago, but our school district celebrates Dr Suess’ birthday week with readings, activities, decorations, and parent participation every year. I don’t think we are the only district that does it and the kids really enjoy it.