“My school doesn’t have a NEED for these books,” a Cambridge school librarian told the first lady in an now-viral blog post where she called Dr. Seuss books “racist propaganda.”
Melania Trump's office is accusing a Cambridge school librarian of being "divisive" for rejecting the first lady's donation of 10 Dr. Seuss books for National Read a Book Day.
Virginia Mayo / AP
In a widely-shared blog post addressed to Trump, elementary school librarian Liz Phipps Soeiro said her school "doesn’t have a NEED for these books" and suggested gifting them instead to "underfunded and underprivileged communities."
In the post, Soeiro, an advocate for inclusive libraries, thanked Trump for gifting the books and for recognizing her school as "special," but said she would not be keeping the 10 Dr. Seuss titles in the library collection.
"So, my school doesn’t have a NEED for these books," Soeiro wrote, describing her school and library as an award-winning one that has provided students access to over 9,000 volumes.
She also criticized Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos for "punishing" schools with "closures and slashed budgets."
"Why not go out of your way to gift books to underfunded and underprivileged communities that continue to be marginalized and maligned by policies put in place by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos?" Soeiro wrote.
Soeiro also criticized Trump for her choice of books, calling Dr. Seuss a cliché and noting that his illustrations were often "steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes."
Holly Ramer / AP
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/2x3u7v0
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