Librarian rejects Melania's book gifts- says Seuss is racist

[WanderingWinoZ]

www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2017/09/28/racist-propaganda-librarian-rejects-melania-trumps-gift-of-dr-seuss-books/?utm_term=.a7b7f5a455d9

Seuss’s illustration are “steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures and harmful stereotypes,” librarian Liz Phipps Soeiro wrote in a strongly worded letter to Trump on Tuesday.



The librarian’s complaints about the first lady’s gesture extended beyond her choice of books.



Phipps Soeiro wrote that rather than sending books to a well-funded elementary school in Cambridge, Trump should instead be devoting resources to schools in “underfunded and underprivileged communities” that are “marginalized and maligned by policies put in place by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.” Critics view DeVos, a billionaire who has worked for decades to promote school choice, or alternatives to traditional public schools, as one of the most anti-public-education secretaries in the department’s history.

===================

The 10 books on the list included: “Seuss-isms!”; “Because a Little Bug Went KaChoo”; “What Pet Should I Get?”; “The Cat in the Hat”; “I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!”; “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish”; “The Foot Book”; “Wacky Wednesday”; “Green Eggs and Ham” and “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!.”

[bugandbibs]

The school's twitter pic with its book suggestions says it all. Good for them.

/photo/1

[2curlydogs]

"But Phipps Soeiro wrote that as first lady, Trump has “word-classes resources”"

I'm stuck here. Sorry.

[aurora]

It's been a long time since I've read Dr Seuss.

The book display they have up seems promising, though.

[janetplanet20]

Sept 28, 2017 20:20:43 GMT -5 WanderingWinoZ said:

]


The librarian’s complaints about the first lady’s gesture extended beyond her choice of books.



Phipps Soeiro wrote that rather than sending books to a well-funded elementary school in Cambridge, Trump should instead be devoting resources to schools in “underfunded and underprivileged communities” that are “marginalized and maligned by policies put in place by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.” ”

[

I love that the librarian said this!! She's 100% right, too. Why is FLOTUS donating to a well-funded school instead of one of the many, many, many schools in impoverished areas?

[katfco]

Sept 28, 2017 21:21:41 GMT -5 janetplanet20 said:

Sept 28, 2017 20:20:43 GMT -5 WanderingWinoZ said:

]


The librarian’s complaints about the first lady’s gesture extended beyond her choice of books.



Phipps Soeiro wrote that rather than sending books to a well-funded elementary school in Cambridge, Trump should instead be devoting resources to schools in “underfunded and underprivileged communities” that are “marginalized and maligned by policies put in place by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.” ”

[

I love that the librarian said this!! She's 100% right, too. Why is FLOTUS donating to a well-funded school instead of one of the many, many, many schools in impoverished areas?

Ditto to this. My school is a Title school and has zero money this year--no money for PD, no money for field trips, no money for extra supplies. Our budget was maxed out before school started. And she's doing her good deed for the day by donating books to Cambridge?? 

[rupertpenny]

In addition to donating to a well funded school, why donate some of the most common and popular children's books to a school library? I personally own at least three copies of "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" in two languages. The library doesn't need another copy.

I'm not surprised though. Besides the fact that she's a Trump and they are dumb, all kinds of people try to donate really stupid shit to libraries, archives, and museums.

[mrsbro]

What exactly did they FLOTUS *think* would happen when she donated to a Cambridge school? Has she never heard of Cambridge? I mean FFS.

[isabel]

Sept 28, 2017 21:16:39 GMT -5 aurora said:

It's been a long time since I've read Dr Seuss.

The book display they have up seems promising, though.

I've been reading them again recently and there are a few that have gone in the trash because I think they are blatantly racist. I don't recall any of that, but most of these are ones that I didn't read regularly as a kid.

[bowies]

Sept 28, 2017 21:36:29 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

In addition to donating to a well funded school, why donate some of the most common and popular children's books to a school library? I personally own at least three copies of "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" in two languages. The library doesn't need another copy.

I'm not surprised though. Besides the fact that she's a Trump and they are dumb, all kinds of people try to donate really stupid shit to libraries, archives, and museums.

Do you have stories of things people have tried to donate? Share!

[KB]

The article says the Department of Education chose one high achieving school in each state for the book donation.

Shocking. 

[litebright]

Sept 29, 2017 7:40:30 GMT -5 KB said:

The article says the Department of Education chose one high achieving school in each state for the book donation.

Shocking. 

To those that hath, more shall be given.  

[Velar Fricative]

Sept 29, 2017 7:33:42 GMT -5 bowies said:

Sept 28, 2017 21:36:29 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

In addition to donating to a well funded school, why donate some of the most common and popular children's books to a school library? I personally own at least three copies of "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" in two languages. The library doesn't need another copy.

I'm not surprised though. Besides the fact that she's a Trump and they are dumb, all kinds of people try to donate really stupid shit to libraries, archives, and museums.

Do you have stories of things people have tried to donate? Share!

Not rupertpenny, but I do! I posted about it on FB recently when this article was making the rounds (read it, it's great!):

lifehacker.com/the-library-usually-doesnt-want-your-used-books-1802216430

Here was my life example that accompanied my sharing of the article:

"When I was a branch manager, I had to tell a man who brought in a huge wagon of old crappy books that smelled like cat pee that we couldn't accept his precious books as a donation. He didn't like my answer so he dumped all the smelly books outside the ancient single door so that everyone who didn't want books that smelled like cat pee couldn't come into the library until I picked them all up (I wore gloves, I promise) and threw them (and the gloves) into the garbage."

Other common items include 30-year-old encyclopedia sets (what on earth makes anyone think the library wants these and wants anyone to be getting 30-year-old information???), books eaten by pets, and "books" brought in by their authors (books is in quotes because they're not even published, they'd bring in something printed off Microsoft Word or something and expect us to circulate it). 

[bowies]

This is amazing.

I ask somewhat selfishly because my dad has a bunch of photographs his dad took during WWII and I don't know what to do with them when they are handed down to me. I don't want to keep them if they serve a greater good (and I'm going to use that term loosely since these are not images that will ever be displayed anywhere.)

[eport]

The Friends of the Library group I work with did end up selling some encyclopedia sets last year as a new furniture store opened up in town and they wanted cheap hardbound books with no dust jackets. We were like SOLD. We have monthly sales and after a period of time books don't sell we have some other donation options or we recycle them.

We do get some weird donations (including some oil paintings for reasons I do not understand and books we could never sell due to damage/smells/old children's books that are definitely not PC) Some of the very old books we sort through and sell some online.

Our group policy is to accept all donations (although changed this year to no longer allowing VHS tapes, seriously people we don't need your 100 VHS collection) and the Library gets right of first refusal and then we just go through the rest. We figure we'll get more donations if we do not make it difficult and you never know what will come in.

[rupertpenny]

Sept 29, 2017 8:27:48 GMT -5 bowies said:

This is amazing.

I ask somewhat selfishly because my dad has a bunch of photographs his dad took during WWII and I don't know what to do with them when they are handed down to me. I don't want to keep them if they serve a greater good (and I'm going to use that term loosely since these are not images that will ever be displayed anywhere.)

These should be donated somewhere! These photographs are unique and probably do have historical value. I don't know if your grandfather or dad are affiliated with any universities, but FSU has a WWII institute with a small archive that would probably be interested (even if no one went to FSU).

As far as stupid stuff people want to donate, it isn't that interesting, just dumb. Like everyone thinks the archives want all their back issues of National Geographic but couldn't possibly be interested in their grandma's diary.

When I was the archivist for a Senator he thought we were just printing and organizing his floor speeches to donate to his alma mater. That shit is already in the public record! Archives want unique, unpublished materials. He though no one could possibly interested in his own papers even though he was a fucking United States Senator!

This was after I'd been working there for two years by the way. He had absolutely no idea what my job was.

[niki]

I love how her idea of "helping as many children as possible" translates into a 10 book donation.

[amberlyrose]

Sept 29, 2017 9:20:46 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

Sept 29, 2017 8:27:48 GMT -5 bowies said:

This is amazing.

I ask somewhat selfishly because my dad has a bunch of photographs his dad took during WWII and I don't know what to do with them when they are handed down to me. I don't want to keep them if they serve a greater good (and I'm going to use that term loosely since these are not images that will ever be displayed anywhere.)

These should be donated somewhere! These photographs are unique and probably do have historical value. I don't know if your grandfather or dad are affiliated with any universities, but FSU has a WWII institute with a small archive that would probably be interested (even if no one went to FSU).

As far as stupid stuff people want to donate, it isn't that interesting, just dumb. Like everyone thinks the archives want all their back issues of National Geographic but couldn't possibly be interested in their grandma's diary.

When I was the archivist for a Senator he thought we were just printing and organizing his floor speeches to donate to his alma mater. That shit is already in the public record! Archives want unique, unpublished materials. He though no one could possibly interested in his own papers even though he was a fucking United States Senator!

This was after I'd been working there for two years by the way. He had absolutely no idea what my job was.

This is good info. My two best sources for my thesis on divorce in 1800s western US were two diaries from divorced women. They were fascinating but I bet their kids thought they were boring as hell. 

[janetplanet20]

Sept 29, 2017 9:38:39 GMT -5 niki said:

I love how her idea of "helping as many children as possible" translates into a 10 book donation.

Right?! I bought easily 100 books for my classroom in the last 6 weeks!

[rjamz]

Sept 29, 2017 10:15:38 GMT -5 amberlyrose said:

Sept 29, 2017 9:20:46 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

These should be donated somewhere! These photographs are unique and probably do have historical value. I don't know if your grandfather or dad are affiliated with any universities, but FSU has a WWII institute with a small archive that would probably be interested (even if no one went to FSU).

As far as stupid stuff people want to donate, it isn't that interesting, just dumb. Like everyone thinks the archives want all their back issues of National Geographic but couldn't possibly be interested in their grandma's diary.

When I was the archivist for a Senator he thought we were just printing and organizing his floor speeches to donate to his alma mater. That shit is already in the public record! Archives want unique, unpublished materials. He though no one could possibly interested in his own papers even though he was a fucking United States Senator!

This was after I'd been working there for two years by the way. He had absolutely no idea what my job was.

This is good info. My two best sources for my thesis on divorce in 1800s western US were two diaries from divorced women. They were fascinating but I bet their kids thought they were boring as hell. 

It's also just the most interesting stuff! I love the history of domestic life. And think of Samuel Pepys's diary - anyone who read it at the time probably thought it was dull as dust (except for his sexual proclivities, maybe) but we have learned sooooo much from them! So many books I read quote his diaries as sources.

[sushi]

H just got some of his grandpa's WWII pictures. He was a b-17 pilot and was involved in Normandy. Took 300 bullets throughout the war but never went down and never lost one in his group. The pictures aren't great (teeny dots in the sky that are planes), but the history behind them makes them interesting.

Would a replica be of value? H keeps the originals in his office. I know the squadron still exists in memorial fashion, and there's a museum for it with an actual b-17, one of very few still capable of flying.

I'm ignoring Melania. Although I'm now curious which books are racist. I thought a lot were forward thinking. Of course, the librarian is already getting blasted on twitter. And by the mayor of Seuss' hometown.

[sushi]

www.newsweek.com/was-dr-seuss-racist-dr-seuss-melania-trump-book-donation-melania-and-dr-seuss-674612
Sorry for the newsweek link. I hate their site. Mute first.

So, clearly racist ads. Did propaganda for the army against Japanese. And books like Cat in the Hat may have racist undertones.

Also, fuck allen west. Due to a "friend" he's always showing up in my feed with "but a black man said it so it's not racist" commentary.

[karinothing]

Sept 29, 2017 15:13:50 GMT -5 sushi said:

H just got some of his grandpa's WWII pictures. He was a b-17 pilot and was involved in Normandy. Took 300 bullets throughout the war but never went down and never lost one in his group. The pictures aren't great (teeny dots in the sky that are planes), but the history behind them makes them interesting.

Would a replica be of value? H keeps the originals in his office. I know the squadron still exists in memorial fashion, and there's a museum for it with an actual b-17, one of very few still capable of flying.

I'm ignoring Melania. Although I'm now curious which books are racist. I thought a lot were forward thinking. Of course, the librarian is already getting blasted on twitter. And by the mayor of Seuss' hometown.

Mulberry street has racist art. I am just frustrated that 9 paragraphs were on her letter. One focused on the racist issue. The others were largely about the school not needing the books. I wish the news would focus on that too. There are pictures of the librarian dressed in a dr Seuss outfit holding a dr Seuss book so it seems a little disengenious for her to point that out when she didn't seem yo care before.

[ribollita]

Sept 28, 2017 21:04:56 GMT -5 bugandbibs said:

The school's twitter pic with its book suggestions says it all. Good for them.

/photo/1

I highly recommend the Sit In book for kids maybe 4.5+. I want to check out a few others, too.

[rupertpenny]

Sept 29, 2017 15:13:50 GMT -5 sushi said:

H just got some of his grandpa's WWII pictures. He was a b-17 pilot and was involved in Normandy. Took 300 bullets throughout the war but never went down and never lost one in his group. The pictures aren't great (teeny dots in the sky that are planes), but the history behind them makes them interesting.

Would a replica be of value? H keeps the originals in his office. I know the squadron still exists in memorial fashion, and there's a museum for it with an actual b-17, one of very few still capable of flying.

Do you mean would an archive accept donation of a reproduction while you H keeps the originals?

The answer is yes, probably, but they won't be happy about it. First of all, archivists are much better equipped to care for the originals than your H is. Having them hanging up in an office is actually terrible from a preservation standpoint as they are continually exposed to light, the back of the picture frame may be acidic, etc.

Secondly, archives want to have the legal rights to items in their collections. If your H still maintained ownership of the copyright they would have to go to him and ask permission anytime someone wanted to use the pictures which is a huge headache.

If he wanted to donate reproductions to my institution I'd advise that he instead make himself high quality reproductions for display and donate the originals.

[sushi]

Thanks for the reply. He's in the air force hence why they're hanging there (at least no sunlight), but a reproduction would be perfectly acceptable.

I'll reach out to the bomber museum (and there's a new open opening near me soon) and see if they have any interest.