The recent decision from Dr. Seuss Enterprises to cease the publication of six Dr. Seuss titles has stirred up controversy among members of the public over the last few days.

In their announcement, the company said the books, which include The Cat's Quizzer and If I Ran the Zoo, "portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong," with many commentators pointing to stereotypical depictions of various ethnicities in the books' illustrations and text.

While some applauded the decision, others decried it as an erasure of history and culture.

Having just recognized Freedom to Read Week, the Directors of the High River and Okotoks Libraries shared their perspectives on the situation.

Director of the High River Library, Mary Zazelenchuk, says it certainly raises an interesting question regarding controversial works and authors.

"I think that what we have to look at is the body of work by a creator. Is everything made by the creator a masterpiece, or is it a matter of [filtering] out the excellent things and keep them, and the things that are less excellent, we move into the past or move out of the things we pay attention to?"

The Okotoks Public Library's Director Lara Grunow says it evokes an age-old ethical conundrum.

"When we go to library school, the big question is 'If somebody asked you for a book on bomb-making, would you search it up in the catalogue and find it for them?' That's the ethical debate we always have, because yes that's our job, but no I don't know what you want to do with that book, but I also can't assume that you're going to go make a bomb."

As part of Freedom to Read week in late February, the Okotoks library highlighted several "challenged" books, including the Harry Potter series and To Kill a Mockingbird, both of which have faced public scrutiny over the years.

While the decision from Dr. Seuss Enterprises came following consultation with a "panel of experts including educators," many have drawn comparisons to historic public calls for books to be destroyed or removed from circulation.

The Okotoks Library does have a system for people wishing to file a formal complaint against a book, which is the same across Alberta. The complainant fills out a form, which is assessed by the library director, after which both are reviewed by the library board before a decision is made.

No complaints have been filed against any Dr. Seuss titles at the Okotoks library, who currently have no plans to pull any Dr. Seuss titles from shelves.

Grunow says access to literature is an important part of intellectual freedom, and there can be valuable lessons learned from titles with antiquated social or cultural depictions.

"There's items here that if you read them, they should probably come with some context. So maybe if a parent checks this book out and they read it to their child, they can say 'This doesn't reflect today's values. At the time, when this gentleman wrote these books, he did so within his context of understanding.' We can learn from that, right?"

With all that in mind, Zazelenchuk says libraries are happy to introduce patrons to new favourites just as much as old classics.

"A lot of what people love about Dr. Seuss is, well they have nostalgia for it from their childhood, but also they're great fun to read. They rhyme, they rollick along, the stories move, the characters are fun in general, but every year there are thousands and thousands of children's books published, and a good percentage of those have the potential to become a classic, and they also have fun stories, and they rhyme, and they move along, and the library would love to help people find those books."

Related: Freedom to Read Week Kicks Off on Sunday

Okotoks Library Recognizing Freedom to Read Week

 

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