Seuss wait and see
Libraries may pull titles
GEELONG libraries are considering whether to pull a series of Dr Seuss books off their shelves, after the muchloved author’s company moved to stop publishing six titles.
Dr Seuss Enterprises has announced it will stop publishing and licensing six books — 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 — for portraying people “in ways that are hurtful and wrong”.
Some of the titles include cartoons of characters using what is widely considered to be racist imagery, and descriptions such as “a Chinese boy who eats with sticks” and “helpers who all wear their eyes at a slant”.
Geelong Regional Libraries stocks five of the six titles in its collection, with 25 copies spread across six libraries.
On Thursday, the seven copies of the books held at the Geelong library were listed as “review deselection”, as the library considered whether to dump them from the catalogue.
Geelong Regional Library Corporation (GRLC) chief executive Patti
Manolis confirmed it was considering whether to remove the books.
“The decision from the publisher to discontinue publication has served as a prompt for us to review these titles against our collection development policy,” Ms Manolis said.
“We will continue to review and discuss both internally and with our industry colleagues in coming weeks.
“The role of public libraries is not to censor but to provide access to information, including books that may act as a prompt to discuss topical and controversial issues.”
The GRLC regularly reviews its collection, including considerations of the “diminished appeal of a subject, approach or format”, “misleading, inaccurate or out of date information” and relevance “to the needs and interest of the community”.
“We very rarely remove books from our collections as a result of censorship, but will do so when requested by government, or in some instances at the request of a publisher. For example, Louise Milligan’s Cardinal: The Rise and Fall of George Pell was removed from shelves in 2017 due to legal proceedings under way at the time,” Ms Manolis said.
GEELONG council is considering opening the Kardinia Aquatic Centre to the public all year.
The 50m outdoor pools in South Geelong are traditionally only open from October to April.
But the council extended the complex’s opening season in 2020 during COVID-19 restrictions on indoor facilities, opening from mid-June through to the start of the normal swim season.
In that period, about 1000 swimmers accessed the pool for a total of 5742 visits. The council allocated $300,000 in funding to open for the extended period, providing a quality alternative option for swimmers unable to access their normal indoor pools.
Geelong Mayor Stephanie Asher encouraged the public to have a say on the proposal.
“The expanded opening of Kardinia Aquatic Centre over winter last year was well received and proved popular for those looking to keeping active during a tough time of restrictions,” Cr Asher said.
“We’d like to understand whether swimmers will continue to access the pool during a more regular ‘off-season’, especially if indoor facilities will also be available.”
A public survey has opened at yoursay.geelongaustralia.com.au/ KAC to help better understand anticipated interest.
The survey is open until
March 17. 11