Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Libraries Pull Dr. Seuss Books From Circulation
PRAIRIE GROVE — Prairie Grove, Lincoln and Farmington public libraries have temporarily pulled the majority of their Dr. Seuss books from the shelves because of concerns people will come in and try to steal them, library staff said last week.
Prairie Grove Public Library was the first one to see the possibility of this happening and then quickly contacted other libraries to give them a heads-up about their experience, said Amanda Thulin, children’s librarian.
Dr. Seuss Enterprises made an announcement last week that it would no longer publish six Dr. Seuss books because they “portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.”
The six titles that will no longer be published: “And to Think 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.”
Prairie Grove has three of the six Dr. Seuss books that will no longer be published, including an original 1937 copy of “And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street.”
Thulin said Prairie Grove
Library received two calls from young men about the books. The first caller asked if they could buy the library’s Dr. Seuss books. Staff quickly informed him the facility was a library and did not sell books. The second caller asked if someone from Bentonville could get a library card.
She said two young men they did not recognize came in the same day and asked to be pointed to the area with Dr. Seuss books. Thulin said library director Megan Wood told them they could not check out any of the books.
The decision was then made to take the books off the shelves to preserve them.
Dianna Payne, director for Lincoln Public Library, said a man with a young girl came in her library and also asked about Dr. Seuss books for his daughter. Payne said she had not seen this man before in the Lincoln library.
Scott Baker with Farmington Public Library said a “new” patron came in and wanted to know if Farmington was going “to get rid of” its books that were no longer going to be published. The man offered to take the books, sell them and then donate the money back to the library.
Glenda Audrain, director of Washington County Library System, said libraries in the county system are receiving a lot of requests for the six Dr. Seuss books. In some cases, people are simply curious, Audrain said. But in other cases, she said she believes people want the books to sell them.
Most of the libraries are removing the books from circulation and placing them in Collection Development for the time being. This means, Audrain said, someone could request to read the book inside the library but not check it out.
“We decided to be cautious so we don’t lose them,” she added.
She noted that books from the library are not really in a condition to be a collectible because they are labeled, stamped and sometimes tattered from use.
“But it seems there are people in this who are trying to make money off of it,” Audrain said.
Last week, the six Dr. Seuss books were being sold for high prices on eBay and Amazon. Since then, both firms have prohibited anyone from selling the books on their sites.