The seats at the 13 round tables in the conference room at the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC are slowly filling up. In the seats are employees from the fund about to become readers of the Human Library, an annual event hosted in partnership with the IMFs Diversity and Inclusion office.

Content sourced from On-Board Book Depot

Most often at Human Library events, the books belong to a community book depot and their content has been verified and they have been trained for the role of an open book. They have been edited for publication, as we call it.

At the IMF, the books are actually staff that have volunteered to become part of an onboard book collection. The work started in 2017 and many books come back to be published again for more conversations. In our world they are brave souls that have valuable knowledge that help enable their co-workers to better understand the diversity in a work place with people from over 140 nations.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover. Everyone has a story.

The courage of books putting themselves out there. Thank you!” – IMF Readers Review 2019

Rewards in being open about our diversity

A book on disability with readers at the IMF Human Library.

One of the books has a hearing impairment and use a hearing aid when attending meetings and other gatherings at work. The disability started in his youth and only got worse over the years. He volunteered to be published to help sensitise his co-workers to his condition and to others like him. This was his first time speaking in such a public manner about his disability.

Another book has found a way to live life undisturbed with a skin condition known as Vitiligo and is opening up to answer the questions that so many have, but only few dared to ask. And it is liberating for her. To have a safe space to debunker the stereotypes and challenge the stigmas. By the end of the day, she was ready to also get published outside of work, to visit schools, libraries and universities to answer questions.

Finding common ground

Other topics on the bookshelf included a survivor of domestic abuse, the refugee, a healer and hidden disability. All of them employees that volunteered time away from their desk to contribute to the inclusion and diversity efforts at the fund. All of them with valuable experiences that we can all learn from, if we want to create a truly inclusive workplace. 

“When our books allow us publish them, they are making knowledge available to co-workers in a framing that helps people find common ground. All parties quickly become aware of this and by far a vast majority jump at the opportunity to know more, to better understand. I mean, who does not want to be understood, at work and in our private life, says founder Ronni Abergel.

The third annual Human Library at the IMF was hosted on September 19th, 2019 and featured nearly 20 different books recruited from staff.

FACTS:

A Human Library is a safe space to have a conversation with a total stranger that has volunteered their experiences and knowledge in order to be an open book for you and answer any questions you may have. Typically the topics relate to groups in the community that are often stigmatized or exposed to negative stereotyping.

Since 2017 the IMFs Diversity and Inclusion Team and the Human Library has worked together on hosting events at the fund. Approximately 400 members of staff have taken part in a Human Library session and the response from readers and books has been overwhelmingly positive.

In 2020 the program is scheduled to repeat at the fund and expand with more partners such as the World Bank Group.

The On-Board Human Library Book Depot is a group of staff that volunteered to be trained and published at internal events hosted for co-workers.

The post When your co-worker is an open book appeared first on The Human Library Organization.

“Being homeless doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t have a house. Sometimes you feel homeless, because you can’t find people who accept you or how you feel. In The Human Library you can always be sure that you are accepted and you have a place,” he says.

He is 29 years old, born in Damascus in Syria, and has been part of the Human Library in Wroclaw, Poland since May 2018. His topic is Syrian Refugee and he has been published more than 10 times.

Readers think I am muslim

Do you eat pork? Do you drink alcohol? Do you like Polish food? Are Polish people racist? Why are you not in Germany or Sweden? Are you happy here? Do you feel safe? 

These are among the most common questions that Ehssan Ruzallah Chameiy is asked, when he is out on loans out as a book in The Human Library.

 “When it comes to my readers, negative stereotypes are not that common, but most of them assume that I am Muslim, when we start our talk. When I tell them that I am a Christian Syrian, they are shocked. They even ask, if there are Christians in Syria?,” Ehssan Ruzallah Chameiy says.

The readers sometimes assume that Syrian ladies cover their hair, and they have asked him if his mother or sister covers their hair.

Book by accident

Ehssan Chameiy a refugee from Syria is our book of the month.

Ehssan became a book ‘by accident’. A friend of his is a Human Library Book, and he talked to the depot manager in Wroclaw and informed her about Ehssan. And that is how he came to be published.

“However, the real motivation is that the project is interesting. No matter where you are, or how you think, you can find your own spot in Human Library. It is a place, where colour, skin or belief no longer matters, it is a home for everyone,” he says.

For him personally, it is also a way to show that not all immigrants are bad or are here for bad purposes.

“The Human Library is a powerful way to illustrate that we can always find common ground and the interests we share, no matter where we come from,” he says.

“I love being a book, and it is like a home for me. I miss it when there are no events for a little while. I enjoy talking to people, listening to their questions, which can be funny and at times also sad. I love their reactions, and I love that sometimes we get so involved and caught up in the reading, that we lose our sense of time.

You are welcome here

A while ago, Ehssan had two Polish readers, a husband and wife, and at the end of the session, when the time was up, they both looked at him, smiled and said: “You are welcome in Poland, we want you here.”

“You know, moments like this, give me strength to continue to contribute to the Human Library,” Ehssan says.

In his perspective, The Human Library is a place to learn, to exchange cultures and to meet different people. He came from kind of a conservative society, and there are many topics which are considered sensitive there, like being gay or lesbian. Based on that he formed his opinion about them.

“But when I met and talked to them, I realized that there is no wrong in being this way. In fact, I have a lot of good friends in our local book depot in Wroclaw, and we have become e a small family. You feel the environment is so light, and each and every person is his/her self,” he says.

In fact, The Human Library is a place for everyone, it is a home for every person, an embassy for mankind. 

For the opportunity to borrow Ehssan follow the work of the Human Library Wroclaw here:

https://www.facebook.com/ZywaBiblioteka/

The post Book of the Month: Syrian Refugee in Poland appeared first on The Human Library Organization.