The publisher and school book fair giant Scholastic has decided it won’t cave to bigots and bullies after all. Scholastic had drawn criticism, including from its own authors, for announcing a policy in which diverse books would be segregated into an add-on collection for book fairs rather than being included in the standard option. Now it’s ending that plan, saying in a statement, “We understand now that the separate nature of the collection has caused confusion and feelings of exclusion.”
In a longer letter written to authors and illustrators, Ellie Berger, the president of the Scholastic Trade Publishing division, apologized. “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.” This is an actual apology. Author Molly Knox Ostertag, one of the first public critics of the segregation policy, acknowledged, “It seems to be a good faith effort to protect teachers and librarians” from retaliation for giving students access to diverse books. But when you find yourself in a position where you’re saying “we understand now that it was a mistake to segregate,” soul-searching and apologies are definitely necessary.
Berger continued, “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.” Additionally, she closed the letter with a pledge to do more: “Equally important, we pledge to stand with you as we redouble our efforts to combat the laws restricting children’s access to books.”
“When we organize, we win,” Color of Change, which had organized to change Scholastic’s policy, tweeted in response. “Thank you, @Scholastic, for removing the option for Black and queer authors and stories to be excluded from book fairs. And thank you to the #DefendBlackHistory movement for organizing to make this happen.”
“Thank you, @Scholastic. This is the right decision,” author Celeste Ng tweeted. “I know you’re in a bind here, but you are doing the right thing by standing up for kids’ right to read freely.”
Scholastic author Daniel José Older was more critical, tweeting, “Obvs it’s also not at all funny it’s an absolute disaster because ‘we now understand’ means someone had to make you – the largest children’s pub in the world – understand and that someone, as always, was us – the people who spoke up. So much has changed / so little has changed.”
Both are true: It’s deeply unfortunate that Scholastic didn’t get this from the beginning, and it’s good that authors and activists organizing and speaking out did get the policy changed. The measure of Scholastic’s redemption here will be whether it seriously works to combat state and local policies banning books with LGBTQ+ themes and characters or with Black and brown characters and serious discussions of race and racism. Republicans are not letting up on passing and enforcing such laws, with groups like Moms for Liberty spurring them on and ensuring teachers and librarians are punished if they dare to expose kids to diverse books.
Laura Clawson
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