Librarian's Comments About Dr. Seuss 'Stink,' Author's Hometown Mayor Says
SPRINGFIELD (CBS) – The mayor of Springfield – Dr. Seuss' hometown – is weighing in on a controversy involving a Cambridge school library, the prolific children's author and First Lady Melania Trump.
The story about Cambridgeport Elementary School librarian Liz Phipps Soeiro rejecting Mrs. Trump's shipment of Dr. Seuss books has made headlines nationwide.
"You may not be aware of this, but Dr. Seuss is a bit of a cliché, a tired and worn ambassador for children's literature," Soeiro wrote in a blog post. "My students have access to a school library with over nine thousand volumes and a librarian with a graduate degree in library science."
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno of Springfield, where the world's first Dr. Seuss museum opened earlier this year, said the librarian's comments are "ridiculous" and "stink."
"Her comments that this is 'racist propaganda and that Dr. Seuss is a bit of a cliché and a tired and worn ambassador for children's literature' is 'political correctness' at its worst," Sarno said in a statement.
The Cambridge school had been chosen by the White House to receive 10 Dr. Seuss books as part of National Read A Book Day. Sarno said if Cambridge doesn't want them, Springfield would be happy to take the books.
The city would also "be honored to have the First Lady and President Donald J. Trump to visit the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum too," Sarno added.
The Cambridge school system has said the librarian's opinions do not represent the district and she did not have the authority to reject the book donation.