Childrensbookstore.com

Scholastic is in well-deserved hot water.

They tried to please both Book Banners and Freedom to Read advocates with the same crazy policy. Here's how:

1. They attempted to satisfy Book Banners by placing what they consider to be "diverse" titles into a separate category.
2. They attempted to satisfy Freedom to Read advocates by, again, placing "diverse" titles into a separate category.

A bookseller should never dictate whether or not a book is "diverse". This makes no sense. "diverse" is not an industry category. The fact that they took that step is immensely offensive and sheer madness.

But Scholastic didn't stop there. They took "diverse" books and segregated them from other books for book fair customers. Double madness.

At BookFair.org, this is the policy for whether or not we offer a book: If it has a BISAC code of Juvenile Fiction or Juvenile Nonfiction and is in stock, it's on the website. That's the whole policy.

The reason I feel like taking Scholastic to task is because they aren't willing to disappoint anyone--or risk a dollar in book sales.

BookFair.org has been removed from the "approved vendor" list in areas where we have done business before. Why? Because I'm not willing to suppress titles to satisfy book banners and I would never invent or attempt to fill a new "diverse" category.

This is our policy for book sales: ALLOW CUSTOMERS TO BUY WHATEVER BOOK THEY WANT.

We do a fraction of the business that Scholastic does. But, I know this: When you try to please everyone, you end up offending everyone.

We offer books on our website that I would not take home to my kids. But, I'm not going to tell another person what to buy or not buy.

The content you bring into the lives of your children is up to you and only you.

We don't need booksellers inventing new categories and segregating books.

https://www.npr.org/2023/10/17/1206219484/scholastic-book-fair-diversity-book-bans #:~:text=Hourly%20News-,Scholastic%20Book%20Fair%20grapples%20with%20diverse%20titles%20amid%20a%20rise,company%20of%20caving%20to%20censorship

U.S. book bans are taking a toll on a beloved tradition: Scholastic Book Fairs Scholastic created a separate fair category for diverse books, which it says is to help schools navigate the complexities of book bans. Librarians accused the company of caving to censorship.