And to think that I saw it on library shelves

Mar. 8—STEWARTVILLE — Looking for a Dr. Seuss book? Try a library shelf or a reading nook. Those six titles, you see, are going nowhere. For censorship, you see, librarians do not care.

Last Tuesday, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the organization that controls the literary estate of Theodor Geisel, known more commonly as Dr. Seuss, announced it would no longer publish six of his books due to imagery that might be deemed offensive by some readers.

That doesn't mean you can't still find most of those books on a library shelf near you.

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"Public libraries do the best we can to fight against censorship," said Nate Deprey, director of the Stewartville Public Library. "I would be very bad at my job if I was proactively looking for things for my patrons to be offended by."

On March 2, Geisel's birthday, the organization announced that six titles — "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street," "If I Ran the Zoo," "McElligot's Pool," "On Beyond Zebra!" "Scrambled Eggs Super!" and "The Cat Quizzer" — would no longer be licensed or published. The organization consulted with "a panel of experts, including educators" to make the decision.

"Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises's catalog represents and supports all communities and families," the statement concluded.

Deprey said books get discontinued all the time, so if Dr. Seuss Enterprises had simply stopped publishing the books without making a fuss, it's possible no one would have noticed.

"One of the many, many dumb things about this is books go out of print all the time," Deprey said. "This is sort of an organic process that's been politicized."

Monica Erickson, director of the Chatfield Public Library, said a lot of times when people ask for a book to be banned from the library — an occurrence that has rarely happened in her 26-year career as a librarian — it's a case of people taking something out of context.

"When you take things out of context, it can change the whole look of the thing," she said. "The things that are not politically correct now, if you take all these things and burn them, you can't teach."

Erickson said she doesn't know if her library has any of the discontinued titles on its shelves. Deprey, meanwhile, said four of the six are found at the Stewartville library.

A search on the Rochester Public Library website shows five of the six — only "The Cat's Quizzer" is absent — in its collection.

Karen Lemke, head of marketing and community engagement for RPL, said the decision by Dr. Seuss Enterprises won't change how the library does business.

"We are not changing anything in our collection," she said.

The decision has impacted the books' sales, though. On Amazon.com, the books, which retail for the price of the average children's book, are going for hundreds of dollars. The priciest Friday afternoon was "If I Ran the Zoo," which was going for nearly $900 for a hardback edition.

Deprey, who describes himself as a "huge fan of Dr. Seuss' work," said questionable depictions of people from different cultures was common in Geisel's early work as he began his career as a political cartoonist working before and during World War II. Political cartoons of the era were often problematic by today's standards of cultural sensitivity.

One of the books, "If I Ran the Zoo," Deprey said, certainly has some images, caricatures of racial stereotypes, that are offensive by today's standards.

"I can't image making a reasonable defense of that particular illustration," he said.

Still, the books will continue on the Stewartville library shelves and, he supposes, on the shelves of most libraries until the time those books are damaged beyond repair.

In fact, the library's copy of "Zoo" is currently out of circulation only because the spine of the book is damaged.

"We'll bind it," Deprey said. "We'll give it a few more check-outs."

The six discontinued books by Dr. Seuss

"And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street," 1937

Young Marco makes up fantastical sights from the mundane he sees walking down an average street in his town.

"If I Ran the Zoo," 1950

If Gerald McGrew ran the zoo he would release the "not good enough" animals and find new, exotic ones to take their place. This book was a Caldecott Award winner.

"McElligot's Pool," 1947

Marco, again, uses his imagination as he fishes in a small pond, dreaming of a watery connection to all kinds of aquatic creatures. This book was one of three Caldecott Award winners for Dr. Seuss.

"On Beyond Zebra!" 1955

Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell finds 20 additional letters of the alphabet to introduce unique beasts and things.

"Scrambled Eggs Super!" 1953

Peter T. Hooper is on the search for unique eggs to replace the standard variety he scrambles for breakfast.

"The Cat Quizzer," 1976

The Cat in the Hat asks some silly questions with some real answers to educate kids. Do pineapples grow on pine or apple trees?