The Human Library – unjudge someone

Source: www.humanlibrary.org

There’s a place you can go to rent a ‘human book’. The Human Library is a place where real  people are on loan to readers. A place where difficult questions are  expected, appreciated and answered and where people who are marginalised, discriminated against or who have a personal story to tell (even a positive one), are available to ‘readers’ in a non-judgmental forum.

The Human Library or ‘Menneskebiblioteket’ as it is called in Danish, was formed in Copenhagen in 2000 and now has a presence in over 80 countries worldwide. For 40 years Denmark has been voted the happiest country in the world for good reason. It has an intense focus on empathy in parenting and education, which positively affects its entire society.

FOSTERING EMPATHY

The CPH Post reports neuroscientists claim we can improve our empathic response through reading fiction. “When we experience other people’s lives – whether it is gender, sexuality, ethnicity, culture or profession – we are unwittingly putting ourselves into someone else’s shoes, and this improves empathy.”

And The Human Library is a perfect example of how practising empathy at any age works. It offers a rare opportunity to check out real people’s stories and engage in dialogue people may never have an opportunity to, or the courage to, otherwise. The human books are all volunteers who apply to The Human Library to tell their stories. And they are literally, open books. Jessica Alexander, reporting for the CPH Post visited the library and noted that many of the ‘book’ titles have stars next to their name which means the book is out: people are paired off with the ‘human books’ on benches and chairs ‘reading’ their books intensely in an allocated 30-minute time slot. This engagement enables ‘readers’ to ask the human book or storyteller anything they’d like to know.

WHAT IS A HUMAN BOOK?

The Human Library says that a book for them, is “a person that volunteers to represent a stigmatised group in the community and based on their personal experiences can answer questions from readers to help challenge what is being said/told/understood about a given topic. To help shed light on the facts as  you know them. Books are not political or on a mission when they are with us, but rather able to surrender to the agenda of the reader and allow them control of the conversation.”

TAKING CARE OF BOOKS

The library has librarians and a ‘book depot’ manager to ensure their ‘human books’  have a good experience every time they’re published and that their books are kept in top condition.

READER RULES

They’re simple: respect, don’t judge, be curious, and return the book in the same condition it was given. Both parties have the right to end the ‘read’ at any time.

The first original Human Library event was open eight hours a day for four days straight and featured over fifty different titles. The broad selection of books  provided readers with ample choice to challenge their stereotypes and so more than a thousand readers took advantage leaving books, librarians, organisers and readers stunned at the reception and impact of the Human Library.