The One Book, Many Voices program here at IU East continues this year with Positive by Paige Rawl. As a student and employee here at IU East, I am very excited for everyone to get the chance to read this important book, meet the author, share personal stories, etc. Not only is the story riveting, but it also has powerful messages that can be taken away by people of all ages and situations. Paige is an Indiana native and current college student, so students can definitely relate to her story, as well as anyone else who reads the book. Positive is a story of strength, dedication, struggle, and overcoming ignorance. There are extremely dark moments and extremely happy moments. You might even find yourself both grinning and crying over the course of the memoir (It has been suggested NOT to read Positive in public, such as on a plane, because of this). While the book is about issues such as bullying and HIV, there is another important idea illustrated within: the idea that one person, even you, can make a difference in the world.
Bullying is a major issue at the heart of Positive, and of Paige Rawl’s life. In fact, she helped the Indiana Anti-Bullying law get passed by Congress in 2013. Bullying is a serious issue in society today. According to Education News, one in four students in Indiana is bullied at school. As part of the One Book program, we encourage anyone to anonymously share their stories at http://www.iue.edu/onebook/ in an attempt to help others. It is important to understand that in these situations, you are not alone. We also have a resource page on the One Book LibGuide for bullying, and an entire LibGuide devoted to bullying resources and more. StopBullyingNow.gov is an excellent starting place. Also, October is National Anti-Bullying Month, so it is fitting that a lot of the One Book events, such as Paige Rawl’s visit to campus, will take place in October (Paige will be in Vivian Auditorium on October 27th at 7 pm). Learn more about National Anti-Bullying Month here: http://iue.libguides.com/bullies/antibullyingmonth and get your tickets for the event here: https://iueonebook2015.eventbrite.com.
I hope everyone enjoys the book as much as I have, and that the impact of making this book the common read for our campus is wide reaching and long lasting.
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