By Genesis Benavides
Students gathered during banned book week for an arts and crafts making activity and discussion about the impact that book bans have on readers. Sudents made bookmarks durin the event.
“Banned book week happens once a year and it is pertinent for us to discuss banned books because of what is happening in our government,” Vice President of Beyond the Lines Adyson Sisk said.
The host Sisk discussed the history of book banning’s that happened throughout centuries. The students learned the reasons why a book might be banned and how that can impact a community. The students learned about the major historical timeline of infamous cases of book banning including:
The Chinese emperor Shih Huang Ti ordered for all books to be burned in his kingdom in 210-259 BC.
The Library of Alexandria, the caliph Omar burned all 200,000 volumes in the library at Alexandria in Egypt in 640 AD.
The LGBTQ+ student organization Spectrum and the entertainment student organization Beyond the Lines came together to mark the occaison on Sept. 25.
“As a historian, I use my position to create a safe space for students,” the historian of Spectrum Xavier Beaumont said.
Xavier Beaumont and Ari Paulhamus with their bookmarks at the Banned Bookmarks event PN Photos/Genesis Benavides
Throughout the years, there have been books prohibited to read due to the content that is written about in those books. It is one of the most powerful censorship tools. The banned bookmarks event enlightened the students to the history of book banning and book censorship and made the students realize that history has come a long way, and the reading community isn’t hindered by these past events. It is important to acknowledge these past historical events during banned book week.
“Learning about history through books to learn and not make the same mistakes as others did in the past is the reason for this event,” Secretary of Spectrum Ari Paulhamus said.