Scholastic has reversed a decision to allow school districts running book fairs to opt in or out of selling a grouping of books with diverse titles about race and gender after facing widespread criticism, including from those in the publishing industry, educators and parents.
The children’s book publisher had grouped 64 titles, which feature Black and brown community themes and LGBTQ+ characters, as optional, citing legislation in more than 30 states restricting what content students can access.
“I want to apologize on behalf of Scholastic,” Ellie Berger, president of Scholastic Trade Publishing, said in a letter addressed to authors and illustrators. “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.”
It continued: “We sincerely apologize to every author, illustrator, licensor, educator, librarian, parent, and reader who was hurt by our action.”
Local book fair organizers select from a catalog of different Scholastic “cases,” or groupings of books, that are shipped as units to the schools for their events. This year’s offering included 13 modules of books, such as “Fun Facts and Favorite Characters” and “Picture Book Combo.” New this year was the diversity grouping labeled “Share Every Story/Celebrate Every Voice Case.”
Among the books included in the collection of separated titles were titles about the civil rights activist Ruby Bridges and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court.
A company spokesperson said that, as of last week, thousands of school districts had made a decision about whether to opt out of the 64 books, but declined to provide specific breakdowns. Each year, there are more than 120,000 Scholastic book fairs across the country. The diversity case will be discontinued starting in January, the company said.
The new grouping of diverse books drew intense criticism from Scholastic book fair organizers, librarians and prominent authors of children’s books, among others.
A week ago, the poet and author Amanda Gorman, whose book “Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem” was in the collection, posted a video on the X social media platform criticizing Scholastic for isolating diverse titles.
“I was that little 8, 9-year-old kid saving up every single penny I had all year so that I could go to the Scholastic book fair not to buy any book but to finally buy a book with characters and voices that looked like me and sounded like me as a Black girl with a speech impediment,” she said.
PEN America, a free speech organization that had opposed Scholastic’s initial policy, praised the company’s decision to backtrack.
“Scholastic recognized that, as difficult a bind as this pernicious legislation created, the right answer was not to become an accessory to censorship," said Jonathan Friedman, director of the group’s free expression and education program. "Scholastic is an essential source of knowledge and a delight for countless children. We are glad to see them champion the freedom to read.”
