Melania Trump’s Book Donations Rejected by School Librarian

'I work in a district that has plenty of resources,' librarian says.

September 29, 2017 10:19 am

A Cambridge, Massachusetts, librarian has penned an open letter to First Lady Melania Trump, rejecting the Dr. Seuss books the White House donated to the school, and noting they should be sent to a district that needs them.

“I work in a district that has plenty of resources, which contributes directly to “excellence,” librarian Liz Phipps Soeiro wrote on a blog. “My students have access to a school library with over nine thousand volumes and a librarian with a graduate degree in library science.”

Soeiro went on to note that schools in cities like Philadelphia, Chicago and Detroit don’t have access to these same resources, and it’s because of circumstances beyond their control.

“My school doesn’t have a need for these books,” Soeiro wrote, adding that while she’s honored her school and students were thought of, the resources should be directed elsewhere. “Why not go out of your way to gift books to underfunded and underprivileged communities that continue to be marginalized and maligned by policies put in place by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos?”

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