Melania Trump's book donation to US school library causes controversy

A US librarian rejected a book donated by Melania Trump because she thought it was racist, the White House explained that the First Lady only wanted to help children.

Mrs. Trump sent a set of 10 books to an elementary school in each state. Photo: Fox News

Melania Trump sent a 10-book set of Dr. Seuss books to a school in each state across the country on National Read a Book Day earlier this month, according to Fox News.

"I wanted to send you a special gift! The Dr. Seuss books are something my son and I have always read together and we wanted to share them with you," the first lady wrote in a letter to the students. "Remember that you are America's future and you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it."

Liz Phipps Soeiro, a library media specialist at Cambridgeport Public Schools in Cambridge, Massachusetts, wrote a letter thanking Melania, but refusing to accept the books, saying the school had no shortage of resources and felt the illustrations for some of the books were "racist."

"Students at the school have access to a library of more than 9,000 books," Soeiro explained."One fact that many people don't pay attention to is that Dr. Seuss's illustrations are intended to promote racism and create negative impressions."Ms. Soeiro writes, citing the example of the book If I Ran a Zoo, which features satirical photographs of Africans and Asians.

The White House explains the book The First Lady follows in the footsteps of her predecessor, Mrs. Obama, who frequently read Dr. Seuss books to children. Former First Ladies Hillary Clinton and Barbara Bush also read Dr. Seuss books to children at various educational events.

Stephanie Grisham, communications director for the First Lady's office, said Mrs Trump only wanted to use her position to "help as many children as possible" and called Ms Soeiro's refusal to accept the book "unfortunate".

The school where Ms. Soeiro works said it supports the right of its employees to voice their opinions, but that the opinions do not represent the school. Ms. Soeiro’s refusal to accept the books does not “officially” represent the school.

Locals also had mixed opinions on this, some agreed with Soeiro's decision to refuse to accept the books because "Cambridgeport School does not need more books", but others thought Soeiro should accept the books donated by Mrs. Trump.

According to VNE