Marshall University does not ban books! The information is provided to let people know what has been banned/challenged elsewhere.
2022
Dr. Seuss Enterprises issued a statement on March 2, 2021, announcing they would cease publication of six of Dr. Seuss’s children’s books due to racist stereotypes that “portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.” The six titles withdrawn from publication were And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, If I Ran the Zoo, McElligot’s Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super!, and The Cat’s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. The titles contain offensive depictions of African and Asian people. Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, said, “Any author, or anyone publishing books, can make choices about what is out in the world.” Caldwell-Stone noted, however, that “an author’s or publisher’s decision to stop publishing a book should not be grounds alone for removing a book from a library’s collection.” Libraries around the country are reacting in diverse ways. Some libraries will continue to circulate the books while not using them for displays or public readings. Other libraries are reviewing their options. And still other libraries are withdrawing the books from circulation.
2015
Challenged, but retained at the Vancouver (Canada) Public Library despite a line in the poem about helpers who “all sear their eyes at a slant,” accompanied by illustrations that are racial stereotypes of Asians. The book is often credited with the first printed modern English use of the word “nerd” in a sentence. The library will no longer read it at story time or promote it other than as a resource material in a study of how the portrayal of other cultures has changed over time.>
On These Pages
A Banned book has been removed from a library, classroom, etc.
A Challenged book has been requested to be removed from a library, classroom, etc.
For additional information contact
Ron Titus, titus@marshall.edu
304-696-6575
Last updated
August 19, 2022