Scholastic to end controversial diverse stories collection

In the US, Scholastic will stop offering its diverse stories collection—Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice—following accusations its rollout aided censorship at book fairs, reports Publishers Weekly.

In a letter apologising to its authors and illustrators, Scholastic trade publishing president Ellie Berger said it would stop offering the optional collection of diverse books from the next book fair season in January 2024.

‘I want to apologise on behalf of Scholastic,’ Berger wrote. ‘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.’

For fairs in the falls season, Berger said the company is ‘working on a pivot plan’. ‘We will find an alternate way to get a greater range of books into the hands of children,’ said Berger. ‘We remain committed to the books in this collection and support their sale throughout our distribution channels.’

Scholastic had been criticised for requiring fairs to opt into or out of stocking the collection, allowing fair organisers to effectively eliminate a range of diverse titles. PEN America had urged Scholastic to explore ‘other solutions’ to help local librarians and officials cope with the pressures from new laws.

In a statement, Scholastic said the changes had been made out of concern for its book fair hosts. ‘We understand now that the separate nature of the collection has caused confusion and feelings of exclusion,’ said Scholastic. ‘We are working across Scholastic to find a better way … As we reconsider how to make our Book Fairs available to all kids, we will keep in mind the needs of our educators facing local content restrictions and the children we serve.’

Category: International news