School librarian rejects Melania Trump's book donation
September 30, 2017 16:11
US first lady Melania Trump's donation of books to a California school was rejected by its librarian, describing them racist and unneeded.
Melania had sent packages of 10 Dr Seuss books to one high-achieving school in every state. The packages included titles such as The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham and a personal favourite that she and her son, Barron, 11, read together "over and over:" Oh, the Places You'll Go!
In an open letter to the US First Lady posted on a book blog, Liz Phipps Soeiro, a library media specialist at the Cambridgeport School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said that while she was grateful for the books, she would not be accepting them.
Soeiro said she was returning the books because "My school doesnt have a need for these books."
"Another fact that many people are unaware of is that Dr Seuss' illustrations are steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes," Phipps Soeiro wrote, citing If I Ran a Zoo, which some critics say contains caricatures of Africans and Asians.
She also criticised the Trump administration's policies on funding schools and libraries.
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