Remove Adopt-A Language from Berkeley Public Library Foundation fundraising campaign

The Berkeley Public Library Foundation (BPLF) has a fundraising campaign called Adopt a Book. Many people do not know that using the word adoption in this commercialized way, applied to inanimate objects or linked to payment of a donation, can be hurtful to adopted and foster children and offensive to many in the adoption community. This is not an issue about ill-intent, it is about ignorance.

There are so many children in the foster care system who would love nothing more than to have their own, permanent loving forever family. Because the library is free, many of them are frequent visitors. How do you think they feel when they find out that for $25.00 a book can be adopted, when they themselves are not?

Many letters were written to the BPLF urging them to change the language of their fundraising campaign, but all to no avail. Choosing this language in the first place without knowing any better is an understandable mistake; insisting on continuing to use it after being informed otherwise is insulting, hurtful and deeply objectionable.

It would be a simple matter to change the language to sponsor a book, read a book, or celebrate a book, etc. We are strong supporters of the library so we care about how being there makes these children feel. Other organizations, such as the Oakland Zoo, were happy to change their Adopt A language because they cared about foster children and their feelings. The Berkeley Public Library Foundation should do no less.

We urge you to prevail upon them to reconsider. Berkeley has a long and rich history of honoring diversity in all its forms. The community of adopted and foster children, too often already vulnerable, should be no different. For the child waiting for adoption, Adopt A programs are a reminder of the negative social stereotypes of adoption.

Equating adoption with a simple financial transaction perpetuates the concept that adopted children are a commodity; the general public, particularly children, are having that concept reinforced by the Berkeley Public Library Foundation. We hope you will try to stop that.

We know that as many as 6 of every 10 people in the US are touched personally by adoption and/or foster care. Please see Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute. www.adoptioninstitute.org . Surely this is a constituency that the City of Berkeley, a leader on so many fronts, does not want to ignore. This issue is not about overly sensitive or politically correct adults; it is about children who are sometimes vulnerable, and unable to speak for themselves. They need your support.

We will enclose some of the letters that were written to educate the BPLF Board about this issue. We also encourage you to look to national adoption educator Patricia Irwin Johnston, a 2008 White House Adoption Angel recipient, for more information about why this misuse of language is harmful to children. See Adopt A Confusion at www.perspectivespress.com/pjadopta.html

Please carry this information in your heart so that the next time Adopt A language comes into your world, you can educate others about its confusing and potentially harmful effects.

Perhaps you can even adopt a statute that says, "No Adopt A language in Berkeley that does not pertain to real adoption." Wouldnвt that be something for all of us to work towards! Yes, "adopt" a statute, because adoption is serious, permanent, meaningful, rooted in the law, and implies deep and lasting commitment.

[For residents of Berkeley, the following is FYI:]
Berkeley City Council Districts:
District 1 Linda Maio
District 2 Darryl Moore
District 3 Max Anderson
District 4 Jesse Arreguin
District 5 Laurie Capitelli
District 6 Susan Wengraf
District 7 Kriss Worthington
District 8 Gordon Wozniak