In a heartfelt celebration of community leaders, Peggy Lewis, 67, dedicated volunteer and Human Library Book Depot Manager in Muncie, In, received the Vivian V. Conley Award for Distinction in Advocacy for Social Justice on August 28th for her work with the Human Library.

Vivian V. Conley was a prominent civil rights activist and community champion in Muncie and at the forefront of many community issues relating to education and civil and elderly rights. The award, named in her honour, recognizes individuals who, like Vivian herself, stand at the forefront of community matters and drive meaningful change. Peggy’s dedication to creating an inclusive community where diverse voices are heard aligns seamlessly with the award’s values and serves as a well-deserved recognition of her outstanding contributions to the community.

Peggy Lewis in the middle, celebrated by Books and Librarians.

“You need to understand that this is my passion, and the real winners are all of the Books and Librarians who work together to help me make this a reality. I am humbled and honoured. I was so happy to share this moment with some of those Books and Librarians as well as my sons,” Peggy says. 

Making Indiana a Human Library hub

Peggy Lewis has been leading the local work in Muncie since 2019, and with a band of incredible volunteers, they have built a strong local presence that is giving voice to the diversity of the community and enabling learning opportunities across educational institutions, festivals and workplaces. 

She has put thousands of hours into caretaking for Books, Librarians and readers. Ensuring the safe space for all involved in the work. 

Peggy got involved almost by circumstance after meeting Human Library founder Ronni Abergel at a training session held in Indianapolis. Since then, she has been trained and visited the head office in Copenhagen, Denmark. Along with her team and the amazing Fort Wayne Human Library team, Peggy Lewis has helped make the state of Indiana a regular hub for the Human Library in the US. Peggy Lewis, we salute you.

Click to find a Human Library event near you

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The Human Library Reading Garden is gearing up for another tremendous season of courageous conversations in Copenhagen. We are all set to reopen for loans again at the end of April, and the great news is that this season we will be open to our public readers every Sunday, and yes, it is still free to use the services of the Human Library.

More than 500 Loans

In the previous season, we registered over 560 loans to readers during the Sunday sessions. This confirms the increasing level of interest, support and love from our Readers. People from all over the world visited us to borrow and read some of our open Books, and we are delighted to be able to provide even more opportunities for Books and Readers this season. The conversations about our diversity are more important than ever.

Open Every Sunday

Our team of Books and Librarians look forward to welcoming our readers every Sunday. The many visitors last year confirmed to us that we need to be providing even more opportunities for Readers to engage with our Books. The Reading Garden in Copenhagen has seen an ever-increasing influx of visitors since our grand opening in 2020 (*link to article).

“We are excited to be able to offer more learning spaces to the people of Copenhagen and visitors to the city and expect a steady traffic of courageous Readers this season”, says Ronni Abergel, founder of the Human Library and creator of the Reading Garden”

A Unique Learning Experience

The Human Library Reading Garden offers a free and unique learning experience for Readers to engage in dialogue on topics that often carry a great stigma and with people who have a relevant lived experience and who volunteered to answer questions about their life and background.

The new season in the Human Library Reading Garden will launch Sunday, April 23rd, and you can find a link to the event here. Readers are welcome from noon to 4 PM, and as always, the services of the Human Library are free to our Readers.

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Fall in the Reading Garden

It’s a cold day in October when books and librarians meet up in the Reading Garden for the last time in 2022. The trees have started wearing their orange and brown colored coats, while dark grey blankets and cushions are being laid out on the garden’s benches.

“The end of the season is wistful, but comes with a huge sense of pride, both for the volunteers, but also for me.”, says Fanny Timmermann, who has been the lead coordinator for the Reading Garden this season. “For me as the Reading Garden coordinator, every other Sunday has been a day that I looked forward to, especially the diverse conversations with the books, but also with readers.”

Librarians Fanny Timmerman and Azlina Azmeir

The Human Library’s books have been loaned 562 times this season. That number is beyond all expectations and has made a big impression. “This season in the Reading Garden has been impressive and educational. The amount of readers has been impressive for me personally, but also for our books and librarians.” says Fanny Timmermann, “There have been so many things that made an impression on me, for example, the fact that there have been repeat readers throughout the season, who knew who they had read before, and who they wanted to read on the day.”

The bells of Saint Johannes Church across the street chime at 12 pm, and the first few readers start showing up at the counter. There are nine titles to choose from today, including schizophrenia, victim of incest, homeless, post-partum depression, psychic healer, and immigrant. It is soon evident that it is not just Danish readers who have shown up today. “It’s been remarkable how many different nationalities and languages the Reading Garden has seen this year.” the coordinator says, “But mostly, it’s been great to hear the books listing off countries from every continent when they’ve told us about their readings.”

Despite the Danish autumn weather, readers show up at the counter throughout the afternoon; They’ve heard that this is their last chance. “Several of the readers already want to know when we are opening up next season.” tells one of the librarians.

The Reading Garden is set to reopen in the spring of 2023, where there will be ample opportunity for loaning Human Books – Next season, the Garden will be open every Sunday.

And Fanny Timmermann has a piece of advice for next season’s readers: “Some titles can seem tough, and maybe too tough, but if there is just a little bit of curiosity, then pick that book. And if you think you already know everything about a topic, then pick that book anyway – They will most likely tell you something you didn’t know before.”

See when the next Human Library is.

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We are often told not to judge a book by its cover, but that is exactly what you need to do with the new diversity quiz from the Human Library. The methodology is simple, look, judge, swipe and reflect. The purpose of the quiz is to help our readers better understand how our bias influences the way we engage with other groups in our community.

“We recognize that it is part of human nature to navigate diversity by way of our unconscious bias and the quiz will help us understand that,” says HLO founder Ronni Abergel.

Reflecting on our bias

One of the questions in the new diversity quiz.

It takes less than five minutes to test your unconscious bias and complete a set of the questions. In short you are presented with an image of one or more of our books and a statement along with the choices you have.

You then swipe your answers according to your first instincts. The exercise ends with an opportunity to reflect on the judgements passed and mirror in how others judged.

Volunteer books

The content of the online diversity quiz is based in part on the experiences of our volunteer books from around the world. This means many of the stereotypes and prejudices included in the quiz are faced by real people everyday.

The project was made possible with support from the Danish Welfare and Research Foundation for Educators. 

Helping prepare readers to unjudge

The quiz is available in English and Danish for now, but more versions are in the pipeline. The quiz will primarily be used as part of preparing our coming readers from schools, colleges, universities and workplaces, for their visit to the Human Library. Follow the link below to try the new quiz.

https://quiz.humanlibrary.org/

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It started on June 29th in 2000. On a small patch of grass at a local music festival, participants were invited to borrow a person as an open book. More than 50 different people were published, among other a muslem, a journalist, fans of rival football clubs Brøndby and FC Copenhagen, a policeman, a parking officer and Bente, a woman from Freetown Christiania in Copenhagen.

The idea was – and still is – to challenge prejudice, stereotypes and to educate about minorities and people, who differ from what is considered “the norm”. People can borrow a human book from the library and “read” the book. The human book, in return, will tell its story, present its points of view, answer any questions, and share any thoughts.

Bente from Christiania has met many different people through the Human Library over the years. She remembers a class of school children, shortly after the library had its first events:

“Some of the children saw people from Christiania as thieves and addicts, and I realized: ‘Wow, what a difference we could make as books’,” she says. 

Occasionally, Bente is still a book at the Human Library, but the stereotyping of people from Christiania has lessened. She says:

“It is still as important now as ever to challenge prejudice, to demystify and to simple talk to each other to understand others, but maybe now it is more important for other groups to be on the bookshelf.”

Expanding

Since 2000, the Human Library has expanded from presenting small selections of books at local Danish events to publishing a wide range of books all over the world.

Ronni Abergel, the founder and leader of the Human Library, has been part of the journey since day one and seen how the library has grown from a pop up event in schools and colleges. To a global movement embedded in communities and institutions from Bangladesh to Brazil.

“The idea is fairly simple. We arrange for people to meet and talk in a safe and secure environment. That has proven to be a useful and effective method for allowing people to get to know about each other through conversation,” he says.

Educational institutions, companies, NGO’s, and libraries throughout the world, embrace diversity by inviting the library into their programming and large brands are working with the HLO to help develop their employees and their inclusion and diversity work.

“We are fortunate to have some dedicated friends of the library and a wide range of diversity partners that help enable us to build more permanent infrastructure for the library, while we help them create more inclusive workplaces.”

Making a difference for everyone involved

A disabled book with a group of readers in the garden. (c) Elin Tabitha 2020.

And the range of titles has also expanded considerably. The Human Library now includes a variety of topics based on 12 pillars of prejudice, including ethnicity, mental health, disabilities, social status, occupation and religion, so the readers have a real choice when they select their human book.

“All people judge and so we are not here to change your mind or to tell you not to judge. We are here to make information available to you in a safe setting. So you can make your own decisions, but hopefully better informed decisions. Based not on a quick judgement, but after more careful consideration and after meeting someone that knows about it. Gives you a chance to unjudge someone”, explains Ronni Abergel.

Dan has ADHD and AS, which is a type of autism. He has been a book in the library for five years and says:

“The more people, who understand what autism is, and get to understand how to show consideration and be inclusive, the better for me and others like me.”

The Human Library also makes him feel less different.

“People come here to learn from my story, and that is much less likely in a room full of NT-people,” he says.

NT means neurotypical and is the abbreviation used for “people with a normal brain”, and Dan enjoys being with people who are not just NT-people but share the experience of having a different background in some way.

Human Libraries in different parts of the world not only challenges prejudice and stereotypes, it also creates a safe space and extended “family” some say, for the books, who help and support each other, when facing a world that sometimes feels less safe and welcoming.

Inside the Human Library you will find one of the most diverse groups in your community. All bound together by a motivation to help build a greater understanding for people with their background, but as they become “books” and take their place on the bookshelf, many realise that they are in the same boat as many other people from different groups.

A permanent home

Copenhagens Mayor for Culture, Franciska Rosenkilde inagurated the new library and garden.

Now the Human Library has opened its first permanent book depot in Copenhagen. The building and the surrounding reading garden– a place designed especially for the books, librarians, and readers to meet and an opportunity for schools and other groups to visit the library.

The Reading Garden in Copenhagen is open for visitors on select weekdays and weekends. It serves as a permanent space to have a conversation about diversity. The garden was opened with a ceremony on June 26th by the Mayor of Culture Franciska Rosenkilde and with lots of hardcover books, E-books, and international editions published.

The Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdown has forced the library to find new ways to meet readers and continue the conversation: The Facebook Live readings and the virtual Readers Corner events. Are both examples of how readers now can join in larger groups or connect with a book, who cannot be present in person, online instead.

For example, a transgender from the Human Library in London is published live at the “World Library”. A virtual event that ran concurrent with the opening event of the new library in Copenhagen. A family is asking questions and they are moved by the honesty and openness of their book: How the parents reacted when they learned of the desire to change pronouns from she to he, and to change name from a female name to a male name and later changing his sexual orientations.

“The Human Library is an amazing charity, and I have met so many people and made so many friends,” he says.

Unjudgement Day celebrations included the inauguration of the Human Librarys Reading Garden, a virtual world library featuring books from book depots around the globe and a childrens library.

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I had tears in my eyes at times during my first publication as an open book in the Human Library. I was part of a book collection that featured around 70 different topics, all represented by brave people committed to challenging stigma and stereotypes by way of their example.

Strength in our diversity

A book with his readers in Nyborg.It was 70 very different people that slowly filled up the space in the “book depot”, a room serving as our backstage. People were everywhere, some sitting down to have a coffee some stepped outside on the terrace in the sun, many laughing and hugging each other. 

There was a woman hard of hearing, a man in a wheelchair, a blind woman with her dog, a girl wearing a niqab, another with a headscarf, cancer patients, HIV positive along with someone to talk about obesity. Some of them have been sexually abused. Many have a history with mental health issues: borderline, schizophrenia, social phobias, ADHD, OCD. A tall, slender man in very colorful, fluttering robes and seriously tall stilettos unfolds his huge fan out with a slap and generously divides the airflow to those next to him. Others sit a bit by themselves and I am one of them.

I am overwhelmed and very nervous. It’s my first day as an actual book in the Human Library. This library has people

on its bookshelf, people that volunteered to be an open book on a challenging and often stigmatised topic. When the books share their personal experiences in open conversation with their readers, something very powerful happens. As if our defenses are abandoned and instead, curiosity is invited to occupy the space.

My title is “Journalist” and I have little confidence as we get close to deadline in my personal edition. I have to talk about myself and I expect to answer a lot of questions. Usually I am the one to ask all the questions. Today, the roles are changed. And it is a huge event – the largest Human Library ever. More than 400 readers, assembled at a conference organized through the Labour Union HK and all of them work as assistants in Dental Clinic in the public sector in Denmark. They are waiting for us.

Meeting readers at table 16

Questions and the answers flew across the tables.Nadja Thomsen, a librarian from the Human Library, stands up on a chair so all can see and hear her explain how it the day will run. I belong to group B out of three groups, and each group has two librarians to guide and take care of us.

My first reading will be at table number 16 and right now, I have no idea what to say if my readers do not ask me something.

But when the other books can do it, then so can I. I remember that I have been trained carefully and that my content is clear and my chapters are sorted out. I am prepared for the role of an open book. I want to try and help challenge prejudices about journalists. 

And now it is time, together with the other books, our librarians lead us into the big conference room at Hotel Nyborg Strand, to meet my first readers.

“Hi. My name is Lene.”

Was my opening line, while I politely shook hands with everyone at the table.

“I became a journalist because I want to make the world a better place,” I said and explained a little about my background. And then I quickly had to add that it was not always the result”.

“Can journalists keep their own personal opinions out of their stories?,” one reader asked, after I had talked about myself for what felt like a while now. Something uncommon for a journalist.

“It is virtually impossible to completely avoid,” I answered, explaining how we should always aim to be neutral and that we are not always able to.

I also mention how nervous I really am.

“It always helps to say it out loud,” says one of my readers.

“You’re fine,” says another.

Two of my readers share that they had actually agreed to go home early from the conference, but when they heard what the Human Library was all about, they decided to stay and take part in the program.

“It is super exciting to be allowed to talk to you and some of the other books,” one of them says.

I am touched that they think I – and all the other books – are worth hanging around for on this beautiful and sunny Saturday.

After half an hour the reading comes to an end and we have to change tables. My readers at the next table are a little baffled when they learn that I’m a journalist.

“But I don’t mind journalists,” one says. “You’re alright.”

Easier than wearing a Niqab

The book published just before me was transgender. He probably had to answer more critical questions and is probably more interesting to read than a journalist, I hear myself thinking. In my group, readers could also read the girl in the Niqab. She gets a lot of critical questions and some negative comments – especially at one table, she shared at the evaluation after the event. It is easier to be a journalist than to wear the Niqab in public. But journalists have much more power and can really do quite a lot of harm, I think. There are obviously hierarchies of prejudice in society. Books with content that carry a strong stigma and more light books, like my occupational topic. I understand that I’m not in the heavy end and I get a bad taste in my mouth just to think the thought. So why does a Niqab bring such strong emotions into play?

I did not get a lot of critical questions or comments.

Journalist and open book Lene Rimestad with her readers.

“Would you like to work for a tabloid media,” one asks.

Another is really tired of the same, always writing about two things: dieting and tragedies.

A third said that she thought some politicians where getting a very poor treatment from the media during the recent elections to the Danish parliament.

At the third table I am received by a reader who exclaims enthusiastically:

“I just told the others here that the media are not good enough at doing their job and that they distort things. Then is it really fortunate that you come along right now, ”she says and wants to know more about why we covered the parliamentary election in the way we did.

She also asked me what my best interview was about. I had to think for a very long time only to realise that my best interview was not really an interview, but a conversation I had with a stranger recently.

The three readings ended only too quickly.

Standing ovations

Human Library standing ovations from HK members.I got tears in my eyes again when the founder of the Human Library, calls us all up on the stage. All of our readers then stand up and the ovations are many and loud. None of us had ever tried that before.

Afterwards, the books evaluate the day’s experience in the three groups.

“I had three good readings,” many said. And they are proud to have participated in such a big event.

“We are here not only for the sake of our readers. We are also here for our own sake. To experience how others look at us, to better understand”.

That’s how I feel as well. We learn from their questions to us, and we get our own knowledge of them tested. And maybe – after a few hours together – we move a little closer together to allow each other to be yourself: to be human with all that it entails.

Facts:

Books from the Human Library Organizations book depots in Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense and Esbjerg were published at Hotel Nyborg Strand, as part of the Danish Labour Union HKs Conference for their Dental Clinic Assistants members in municipal and regional dental care. 70 books were published and over 400 readers attended the conference. A book depot is a local chapter of the Human Library full of books and librarians that host events in schools, libraries, universities, conferences and festivals to name a few.

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What will a nine year old ask a blind person about, when invited to ask freely? How will a 6 year old engage in conversation with a person in a wheelchair? That was some of the questions we were eager to learn the answers to, when we introduced the Human Library for Children at Copenhagens Culture House Islands Brygge.

The Niqab book with her readers.

All of our volunteer books were quickly sold out. The young readers aged 6-12 could choose topics such as “the boy who heard voices (Schizophrenia)”, “the lady who cannot see (Blind)”, “the man who cannot walk (disability)”, “the girl who ate away her loneliness (Bulimic), “the girl who did not look like her parents (adopted)” and “the girl who looks like a Ninja (Niqab).

From the first minute questions flew through the air and answers were returned at almost equal pace. Eye to eye or face to face. The blind book with her dog and the child with her parents. Learning about each others perspective.

“How do you pour your coffee, when you can’t see?”, it sounded from the table, while vigorously examining how it feels on the fingers to read Braille. 

 “How do you wiggle mosquitoes away when you can’t move your arms?” the disabled book was asked while the woman wearing a Niqab did indeed resemble a Ninja, she was frequently asked to explain why she wears religious headdress.

Our disabled book with his readers.

The Human Library for children was an instant hit with books and readers. Finally a library where you do not have to be quiet. Finally a chance to ask freely and nobody will hush you or say that you are not supposed to ask people about these matters, because here you can. Here your questions are welcomed by the people who volunteered to  answer them. For young and grown ups, alike.

“I’ve got answers to all my questions – it was so much fun! I want to borrow more books! ”. Said a girl with light in her eyes and a smile on her lips after reading her first book.

This was the first event in a series we are piloting with the City of Copenhagens Culture House at Islands Brygge. The Human Library for Children will return in the fall with more offerings for our youngest readers on our bookshelf. 

The first Human Library for Children also got some media attention, as journalists from Denmarks Radio and TV2 Lorry attended the event. Link to article in Danish and the news segment featured on TV2 Lorry: https://www.tv2lorry.dk/artikel/boern-laaner-miriam-med-niqab-og-udforsker-fordomme

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