The president of Scholastic, a children’s books publisher, has issued an apology and reversed the company’s choice to segregate books that address LGBTQ themes and matters of race into a distinct collection.
In a letter posted on social media, Scholastic president Ellie Berger announced that the “Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice” collection will be discontinued in January. Berger acknowledged that Scholastic made a mistake by separating diverse books, even though they had good intentions. These books were put in a separate case, giving elementary schools the option to include them in their book fairs or not.
“I want to apologize on behalf of Scholastic,” Berger said. “Even if the decision was made with good intention. We understand now that it was a mistake to segregate diverse books in an elective case. We sincerely apologize to every author, illustrator, licensor, educator, librarian, parent, and reader who was hurt by our action.”
Critics were upset about the collection because they thought having a separate section for these books might lead schools to exclude books by diverse authors. Scholastic explained that the collection doesn’t group all diverse books together, but the separate collection was created to make sure kids can still get books that are being targeted by bans in some places.
“Because Scholastic Book Fairs are invited into schools, where books can be purchased by kids on their own, these laws create an almost impossible dilemma: back away from these titles or risk making teachers, librarians, and volunteers vulnerable to being fired, sued, or prosecuted,” Scholastic said.
For the remainder of this fall’s book fairs, Scholastic will explore alternative methods to ensure a wider variety of books reaches children, as stated by Berger. Nevertheless, she committed to intensifying the company’s efforts in addressing laws that limit children’s access to books.
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