Scholastic will no longer require schools to opt into a separate category of books from LGBT authors and those of color.
This category, titled “Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice,” was made up of 64 books but will no longer be counted as their own category come January. It remains to be seen how the publisher will treat books like I Color Myself Different by Colin Kaepernick, Change Sings by Amanda Gorman, I Am Ruby Bridges by Ruby Bridges, and She Dared: Malala Yousafzai by Jenni L. Walsh in this current book fair season.
MURTHY V. MISSOURI COULD HAVE MAJOR RAMIFICATIONS FOR BIG TECH AND FREE SPEECH
“We understand now that the separate nature of the collection has caused confusion and feelings of exclusion. We are working across Scholastic to find a better way,” a statement from the publisher read. “It is unsettling that the current divisive landscape in the U.S. is creating an environment that could deny any child access to books, or that teachers could be penalized for creating access to all stories for their students.”
Company president Ellie Berger went even further, issuing her own apology in a letter sent directly to authors on Tuesday.
“First, I want to apologize on behalf of Scholastic. 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,” Berger wrote. “We sincerely apologize to every author, illustrator, licensor, educator, librarian, parent, and reader who was hurt by our action. We recognize and acknowledge the pain caused, and that we have broken the trust of some of our publishing community, customers, friends, trusted partners, and staff, and we also recognize that we will now need to regain that trust.”
Author Vicky Fang credited a petition signed by over 1,500 authors and illustrators condemning the new category some days earlier.
Scholastic has sent a letter apologizing, reversing the program, and redoubling efforts to combat book banning legislation. Thank you to all who signed and shared the statement which helped instigate forward momentum for Scholastic’s decision. 👏 pic.twitter.com/uoZx0mNSxu
— Vicky Fang (@fangmous) October 24, 2023
“Thank you to all who signed and shared the statement which helped instigate forward momentum for Scholastic’s decision,” Fang wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Authors who were previously outspoken about the category, including Amanda Gorman and Rebecca Burgess, who had their respective works on the list of 64 books originally, have not issued statements regarding the change.
While the publisher has been around since 1920, it began its tradition of book fairs in 1981. Fairs are featured in 115,000 schools nationwide, which are made up of 3.8 million educators and 54 million students.
