For over a decade, students had enjoyed an event exclusive to TABC: Book Day. This event was canceled for the 2019-2020 school year, and it’s unknown whether it will return in the future.
To clarify: what is Book Day? This was an event where the entire student body read the same book beforehand and then spent the day discussing that book’s intricacies.
The Staff Committee planning the event would schedule “workshops” (as they were referred to by Dr. Carol Master, Chair of the TABC English Department) that would allow students to discuss various aspects of the text. Those workshops might consist of lectures, presentations or activities of many sorts, depending on the book.
This year, of course, will not see Book Day. Dr. Master expressed her disappointment that it couldn’t be brought into the 2019-2020 school year. As she explained, Rabbi Asher Yablok, Head of TABC, made the choice to cancel Book Day.
“It was 99% budget reasons,” said Master. This makes sense: each one of the hundreds of TABC students would have to be bought a book, and each book would likely cost ten to twenty dollars (or more). Even with a coupon, the books alone could cost thousands of dollars. Coupled with the possible expenses of the workshops, Book Day ended up being too expensive.
Dr. Master continued that she would like to see Book Day make a comeback in the future. “I like the idea that, in theory at least, [all of our students] were aware of the same book and reading at least part of it,” said Master. “There was something that they were aware of, be it a different culture or people, that students could look upon in a new way. To me, that’s what education is.”
However, Master has no idea if Book Day will ever return.
This obviously leads to the question of how the problem of Book Day’s budget could, theoretically, be resolved. One idea that immediately comes to mind is having each student purchase the book himself.
Not only would it be much more affordable for a family to buy one 20 dollar book than a school to buy hundreds, but brothers going to TABC could share the same book, diminishing overall costs for everyone.
However, this solution raises the question as to whether students would be willing to buy the books themselves. Students could always borrow the book from a local library instead. That would lower the costs for everything, although it brings into question whether the libraries would have enough copies of that book.
I asked several students who had already experienced Book Day whether they’d like the event to return. Many were very positive to the idea.
“Overall, it was really fun,” said Junior Boaz Kapitanker. “With a break from classes, an interesting book to discuss, and unique activities that really captured the point of the book.”
Senior Rami Levin agreed. “I remember being so excited over the books. I remember a feeling of passion and excitement for Book Day throughout the school.”
When I asked Levin whether he’d like Book Day to return, even though it would only be for the grades younger than his, he said, “One hundred percent. They’re missing out, otherwise.”
Even some of our freshmen who had not experienced such an event showed some interest in it. When told about Book Day, Freshman Yerachmiel Birnbaum said, “It’s a cool idea.”
Of course, there is one final irony to this story. Given that school is now cancelled because of Coronavirus, it’s probable that Book Day would have been cancelled this year anyway.
With any luck, the budget problem will be resolved for the 2020-2021 school year, so that TABC students can once again be able to experience Book Day.