The nation’s largest library will keep all of its Dr. Seuss books in circulation despite publication of six of the books being halted.
Six books — If I Ran the Zoo, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, McElligot’s Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super!, and The Cat’s Quizzer — will be allowed to circulate until they are too worn to check out, New York Public Library spokeswoman Angela Montefinise said Wednesday.
“As with all public libraries, the New York Public Library does not censor books,” she told the New York Post.
Montefinise pointed out that the six titles were being pulled from print by Dr. Seuss Enterprises, so “the very few copies we have of these titles will continue to circulate until they are no longer in acceptable condition.”
“In the meantime, librarians, who care deeply about serving their communities and ensuring accurate and diverse representation in our collections, especially children’s books, will certainly strongly consider this information when planning storytimes, displays, and recommendations,” she added.
The books were pulled over concerns about racial and ethnic content. In If I Ran the Zoo, characters from Africa are portrayed to look like monkeys and Asian characters as “helpers who all wear their eyes at a slant” from “countries no one can spell.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to the New York Public Library.
