Human rights violations can easily stem from a lack of interaction and accustom among diverse social groups. By simulating a library checkout of people instead of books, the human library helps foster respectful dialogue between distinctive individuals and their peers. This tactic aims to promote understanding on various lifestyles within any given community. Since the first event in 2000, the human library movement has grown immensely. Events have now taken place in an estimated 70 nations across every region of the world.
Ensuring Equality Through Universal Rights
The rights of individuality and freedom of personality are extensive throughout the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The first Article dictates that all beings are created free and equal, establishing the basis for anti-prejudice movements worldwide. Individuals have a wide range of rights that are essential to the development of their person. These include freedom of thought and religion, freedom of opinion and expression, and freedom of association (as stated in Articles 18, 19, and 20, respectively).
Additionally, Article 29 maintains one’s duties to their community, in which the free and full development of their personality is made possible. Despite these explicitly stated rights, discrimination and prejudice against various social groups remains a global issue. Without promoting understanding and dialogue between diverse peoples, intolerance easily leads to starker human rights violations.
Challenging Stereotypes Through Dialogue
The Human Library™ Organization, a Danish international nonprofit, aims to reduce prejudices and misinformed stereotypes commonly associated with different social identities. The Human Library™ Organization was the creation of Stop the Violence, a group formed by four friends from Copenhagen in the mid-1990s. The youth organization aimed to raise awareness and mobilize young adults in the campaign against urban violence. The group grew rapidly, and obtained over 30,000 members from across Denmark in just a few years.
Leif Skov, director of the popular European Roskilde Festival, approached Stop the Violence in 2000. He wanted the group to design events for the festival that would foster dialogue and provide an insightful experience for attendees. Human Library debuted at the Roskilde Festival, showcasing people rather than books; it proved to be an extremely successful event. The library ran for four consecutive eight-hour days, featuring 75 different titles. Over one thousand festival-goers participated in the event, prompting Stop the Violence to further develop and expand the event.
The Human Library Model
The methodology and function of the human library largely imitates that of typical community libraries filled with books and other media. The library features any number of diverse human “books”, each with a unique social identity often associated with stereotypes and stigma. These human “books” are usually local people within the community who want to volunteer their time and story in order to provide a learning experience for others. “Readers,” or other community members, then “checkout” the human “books.” The pair engages in an organic conversation about the human book’s identity, experience, opinions, etc.
The Human Library provides an outlet to engage in respectful, intriguing conversations with diverse individuals in a public space. The fostered dialogue is a tool to reduce stigma and promote understanding within a community.
Examples of human book titles have included HIV+, Deafblind, Homeless, Refugee, Teen Parent and more.
Hosting a Human Library Event
The Human Library™ Organization intends to make the structure of a sponsored event as uniform and uncomplicated as possible. One must first contact the Human Library™ Organization in Copenhagen to register the event. The organization provides patrons with a guidebook for running the event. It also offers additional advice and support to help make the library event successful.
The local event coordinator then establishes a planning committee, made up of two or more people. The committee takes charge of recruiting “books” from at least five of the seven pillars of prejudices: ethnicity, religion, sexuality, occupation, social status, lifestyle, and health and disabilities (the misunderstood, stigmatized, marginalized or discriminated against in the community). The committee is also in charge of selecting the location and date of the event, and other logistics including important roles such as a “book depot manager”. This person takes care of the human “books” before the event and coordinates their availability during and after the event.
It is important to provide at least one orientation session with the “books” prior to the human library event. This allows them to meet each other and receive training to educate their readers. The “books” practice conversation on one another, so that they will be well equipped to foster a healthy, insightful discussion with future readers.
Global Expansion
Since the initial event in 2000, human libraries have grown rapidly in popularity. Events have been held on every continent, in every region of the world. In Lismore, Australia, the public demand for the library was so high that the city was granted a government funded project. The city held a human library once a month for three consecutive years.
In June 2011, a human library event was incorporated into the national American Library Association Conference, held in New Orleans. In 2014, the Human Library Chicago Chapter was founded by Marlena Johnson. The chapter regularly organizes human library events throughout the city, partnering with various universities and organizations. In 2016 the Human Library Organization and its partners intend to expand events in Brazil, the United States, and Canada, in addition to opening new networks in Ethiopia, South Africa, Sudan, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Israel, Mongolia, Vietnam, Pakistan and Tunisia.
Human libraries have proven to be an effective, transferable tool to cultivate discussion amongst diverse individuals, uniting communities around the world. The events are extremely cost-efficient to organize, as they utilize volunteers as participants. They normally take place in public libraries, an integral location used to connect community members. The high demand for events in cities like Lismore and Chicago reiterate the fact that human libraries are an insightful, beneficial experience for both “books” and “readers” alike. While conversations can take uncomfortable or awkward turns, both “books” and librarians know how to politely correct and educate the patrons, fostering a courteous and valuable discussion. By promoting healthy dialogues between diverse individuals, human libraries can effectively reduce prejudice and stigmas, promoting social cohesion within a community.
Founded in 2000, the Human Library Organization coordinates events around the world to reduce prejudice and cultivate dialogue about various social and cultural identities. The organization partners with local libraries and organizations in order to engage communities in respectful, beneficial discussions. Experiences from recent years have resulted in the development of Human Library Book Depots – these provide a continuous on-going process to recruit new books and prepare them for publication and their meeting with readers. For example, in addition to Copenhagen and other locations, new Human Library™ Book Depots are being established in Toulouse, Cairo, Tunis, and Singapore.
Another tactic was carried out in China that facilitates respectful dialogue while also protecting the identity of victims.
Resources:
Founder Ronni Abergel @ TEDx on the Human Library
Public Libraries Online – The Human Library
Human Library Chicago
CNN Article
Chicagoist Article
