We are proud to announce the introduction of a new Human Library book depot for New York City. Over the past months members of many different communities have come together and joined forces to help us create safe spaces, where we can learn about our diversity.

Based in Brooklyn

New York now joins a list of cities across the US to host a local Human Library Book Depot. San Francisco, LA, Chicago, Muncie, Fort Wayne are others. It is not an easy task to build a book collection from scratch and to establish a strong group of librarians that can help publish our books to readers.

Technically the new book collection is based in Brooklyn and spearheaded by among other librarian and book depot manager Leslie Lucas Gallager.

“New York City is such a big place, but it’s really a patchwork of neighborhoods and personal networks. It has been a wonderful challenge for me and for our librarians to tap into those networks and find our friends (and friends of friends) who not only have a challenging aspect of their lives but are also willing to talk about it”.

Human Library founder Ronni Abergel is excited about the potential for impact in the city.

“New York and especially Brooklyn is one of the most diverse places on earth. So it is wonderful for us to finally be able to help build understanding across the many communities living here. With the resources now in place, we will be more available to local libraries, schools, colleges, universities, festivals and work places”.

Partnerships that are crucial to the sustainability of the book depot.

Publishing virtually at first

Due to the pandemic the first meeting with readers will be online and its planned for January 24th. A selection of the new book collection will be published using the Zoom platform.

Among the titles expected to be available you can find books on: “Unseen Disability”, “Homeschooler”, “Mother of a Transgender Daughter”, “Intersectional Blackness”, “Refugee”, “Mother of a son with Down’s Syndrome”, “Transracial Adoptee”, “PTSD”, “Non-binary”, “Lesbian”, “Lonely”, “Buddhist”, and “Formerly Incarcerated”. 

Rising demand online

The demand for the Human Library’s online events is rising sharply and more than 60 sessions are already planned for 2021. The January 24th event is free to readers and you need to be able to set aside two hours to become our reader.

You can find more information about the opportunity to participate in the launch of the new book depot for New York City by following the link below.

https://fb.me/e/13glTh8i0

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One of the worlds most diverse neighbourhoods is about to get its own Human Library Book Depot. Full of people that volunteered to answer difficult questions and booming with the energy that has made the city more than famous. That is what we are creating in Brooklyn and you can be part of it.

A book depot

A Human Library Book Depot is a collection of volunter books and librarians, spearheaded by a book depot manager, that organise and host Human Library events at schools, colleges, universities, festivals and work places.

The depot is a local chapter of the Human Library and operates as a community service to help increase the volume of events and create more safe spaces for dialogue, while using less ressources. You can say we republish our books and continously add on to the collection to ensure that we always have a diverse content to offer our readers. Book depots are in operation in some countries, while the Human Library is available in more than 80.

Who can be published?

Human Library tag cloud with examples of topics.

We are looking for people that have personal experience with stigma and negative stereotypes. People that have disabilities, people that have a minority background, people that have experienced mental health challenges and people with a lifestyle that has raised eyebrows, to name but a few. We are also looking for people that escaped conflict and others that have overcome hardship due to their ethnicity, background, gender and much more.

The Human Library methodology is based on our 12 pillars of prejudice. All of our literature belongs in one of the pillars. The pillar on religion would contain topics such as the Agnostic, Buddhist, Christian, Catholic, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and many more. While the pillar on occupation could carry a Journalist or a Politician or a Police Officer. The people who have a little time to give and valuable experiences to share, are typically ideal books.

Why become a book in the Human Library

Quite simply put, because it is incredibly rewarding to help others better understand and it is a good opportunity to be part of creating a more inclusive and understanding community. It is also a way to

be heard and to provide knowledge to others. To inspire and to challenge what is being said. And to be part of something much bigger and across groups in the community. To walk should to shoulder with others just like you and yet very different. To find common ground and to be part of a place, where it is always okay to be you and where people volunteered to answer difficult and sometimes quite personal questions. Visit our Human Library Book FAQ for find more details about your publication.

Whats next for Brooklyn

The depot manager and the team of librarians are getting ready to host the first trainings for the new books. So if you are living in the Big Apple and you have an open book inside you. Then maybe you can help us challenge stereotypes and stimulate dialogue about our diversity. The NYC book depot in time is expected to have capacity to host 12-30 events annually at schools, libraries, universities, festivals and conferences. We hope to host the first local events in Brooklyn by the fall of 2019.

See our online book application form here

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