The Sage Connection

Discovering the Human Library

Posted Wednesday, November 3, 2021 3:02 pm

Kathleen Anderson

By Kathleen Anderson

I have never met a person who didn’t have a story. But I recently discovered a new way to meet more of them.

It is called The Human Library.

In Denmark, there are libraries where you can borrow a person instead of a book to listen to their life story for 30 minutes. In Olympia, Linda Terry, the founder and director of STEP, (Sharing Time with Elders Project) is doing something similar, by putting together the elderly and youngsters

The goal for both programs is to fight prejudice.

In the Human Library, each person has a title – “Unemployed”, “Refugee”, “Pipolar”, etc. By listening to their stories, you realize how much you shouldn’t “judge a book by its cover”. This innovative project is active in 85+ countries.

Origin story

The Human Library or “Menneskebiblioteket” as it is called in Danish, was developed in Copenhagen in the spring of 2000 as a project for Roskilde Festival, an eight-day annual event, by Ronni Abergel and his brother Dany and colleagues Asma Mouna and Christoffer Erichsen.

The original event was open eight hours a day for four days straight and featured over fifty different people. The broad selection of people-as-books provided “readers” with ample choice to challenge their stereotypes, and so they did. “More than a thousand readers took advantage leaving books, librarians, organizers and readers stunned at the impact of the Human Library,” according to the non-profit organization that has grown up around the original project.

How it got started

One of the creators, Ronni Abergel, realizing the potential of the idea, decided after the first event, to begin to work to promote the idea to potential new organizers.

Since then, he founded the Human Library Organization, based in Copenhagen, and produced a guide to new organizers with the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Council of Europe. Today the Human Library projects have been presented around the world, most of them in partnership with local organizers.

Dont judge a book by its cover:

Despite a very positive response, the first years saw slow progress. In 2008 the concept reached USA and Canada. Since then, it has spread at an ever-increasing pace.

A “Book Depot” is a gathering of volunteer books and librarians who frequently visits libraries, schools, high schools, festivals etc. A book depot often services a town or region.

Usage

In the United States medical students from Thomas Jefferson University also participate in a Human Library.

At a corporate level it’s about creating inclusive work environment, and increasing the employee’s ability to benefit from the great diversity that especially global companies are characterized by.

Therefore, some of the biggest companies in the world collaborate with the Human Library. This includes companies like Microsoft, Heineken, eBay, and Eli Lilly.

A Human Library in Olympia?

Now I can hear my editor in my ear saying, “very interesting, Kathleen, but what does this have to do with our area?”

Well, Boss, just because we don’t have one doesn’t mean we can’t have one.

So, I made a call to the manager of the OlympiaTimberland Library, Stephanie Cochran, to see if there was one in our future. She informed me there is one in Seattle, but not in Thurston County. She is, however, interested in the concept and while no promises were made, she said she would speak to others in her library system about the possibility of starting one.

If you are interested in helping to start a human library here, let our local librarians know you support the concept and are willing to help get it off the ground.

Why support and volunteer to help build a human library?

There are many very good reasons to become part of this global movement and help publish people through Human Libraries in our community.

This concept works. The Human Library does what it says it will do and what it was designed to do. It helps build understanding for diversity by providing a framework for real conversations about important issues.

To participate in open and honest conversations that can potentially lead to greater understanding, acceptance and social cohesion in the community.
To connect real people in real conversations within a framework set up to help facilitate and accommodate the process through this innovative approach to challenging stigma, stereotypes and prejudices through a non-confrontational and friendly conversation.
To give a voice to the many groups that are stigmatized and to help enable platforms that support building relations and social cohesion in the community.

Perhaps, most of all,