The library feels the need to address some concerns about the recent stopping of publication for six Dr. Seuss titles. On March 2nd, 2021, Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced that to further their mission of supporting all children and families with messages of hope, inspiration, inclusion, and friendship, they reviewed their catalog of titles and made the decision last year to cease publication and licensing of the following titles: “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street”; “If I Ran the Zoo”; “McElligot’s Pool”; “On Beyond Zebra!”; “Scrambled Eggs Super!”; and “The Cat’s Quizzer”. Katie Salo, an Early Literacy Librarian, has developed some helpful infographics to support people asking questions about what this all means.
First off, Dr. Seuss is not banned or cancelled. We are not banning Dr. Seuss books, deleting them swiftly from our collections, or the like. The rights owner, Seuss Enterprises, has decided to stop publishing six titles. This happens every year to thousands of books, everything cannot remain in print forever.
Secondly, since we know there is racism is some of Dr. Seuss’s books, we have the responsibility to put aside personal feelings towards the materials and do better for children today. The library is cultivating some resources about these issues, should you like to look at them. We would also like to point you to Dr. Seuss’s website, where history shows us that Theodor Seuss Geisel had made changes to his early works, such as “And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street”, within his lifetime because he noted the harmful racial stereotypes within it.
The library has many wonderful titles available by Dr. Seuss, including but not limited to “Horton Hears a Who!”, “The Lorax”, and “The Sneetches”, which are all about diversity and inclusion. We also have the book “Becoming Dr. Seuss: Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination” by Brian Jay Jones, a nonfiction biography about Ted Geisel’s life and many works.
We hope to see you again soon!
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