Book of the Month: December

Our Human Library Book of the Month series is a way to offer our readers a unique glimpse into the tremendous diversity within our bookshelves around the world. And at the same time, it is also an opportunity for our books to highlight what it is about the Human Library that they find most important in their work as Human Books. This month’s book is truly inspirational and the reasons why she shares her story is amazing.

This month’s book is Syrine, who is 25 years old and born in Bizerte, Tunisia. She is diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Quite often in the Human Library we highlight what the readers gain from engaging in a dialogue with one of our human books, but Syrine empathizes how much value being a part of the Human Library Bookshelf has had for her. And for the way she sees her illness. When first diagnosed she experienced what she describes as, “auto-stigmatization” by comparing herself to others and viewing her illness as a total handicap. She feared that this diagnosis would limit her in a serious manner and that it “would be the end of a journey”. Instead she decided to accept the illness and become in control of it.

For Syrine, being a book is an opportunity for “self-grow” and as she says, “Shame can no longer survive once one opens up about his story and his vulnerabilities and reader’s eyes says ‘me too’. Sharing with strangers your insecurities, your fears and your journey can teach others empathy and compassion and you are no longer alone in this”.

For Syrine, sharing her story with her readers is a way for her to accept her condition and to not feel alone. It helps her to see, that every human being has been through hardship and have experienced pain in some way or another. As she states herself, through a reading you get a chance “to connect on a deeper level with others and understand that each one of us has his own battle in this life”.

When asked about her most frequent questions it becomes obvious that many readers borrow her out of a personal interest in her topic, either because the readers themselves have been diagnosed with similar disorders, has a person close by them who is having the condition or just wants to know more about the topic from someone who is affected by the illness. Readers often ask, “How can we help someone with a mental illness? / Did your illness had an impact on your family and relationships? / What is the difference between bipolar and schizophrenia?”

As a book, Syrine helps her readers to gain insight into living a life with bipolar disorder. How it affects your life and how knowing her triggers has put her back in control regarding her illness. She teaches her readers how to express love and understanding towards mentally ill people, as Syrine puts it herself, “[..] replace the tap on the shoulder with a hug and ‘why are you overreacting’ with ‘I understand you, I am here for you’”

Syrine stresses that it’s important for people to accept their vulnerability and illness, because out of those comes strength. Finally, we will leave you with these inspirational words from Syrine: “There’s always hope and as long as you are trying, you can do it. Chase your dreams and go after what awakens your soul, and when you feel lost just look at the long road you have walked.”

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Book of the month: November

Our Human Library Book of the Month is a series of portraits of our books created with the purpose of offering our readers a chance to understand the diversity and variety within our bookshelf around the world. It also provides unique insights into the motivations and values of being a book and volunteering for our organization.

Book of November is a highly relevant and inspirational story about the life as a Niqab wearing young woman living in Denmark. Please welcome 21-year-old Meryem, who has been a book on our Danish bookshelf for six months, and today insists to wear her niqab, although it was made illegal in Denmark on the 1st of August 2018. Her title and place as a book in the Human Library has never been more relevant since the passing of the law that bans people from wearing both burqa and niqab in the public.

When asked about most frequent questions from readers, Meryem explains that the most recurrent questions are “Why do you wear niqab?” and “How is it to be a niqabi in Denmark?” For Meryem, the essential reason to be a part of the Human Library is because of the ongoing stigmatization and discrimination that women wearing the veil is facing on a daily basis. She feels that there is a limited representation of niqabi women in the Danish society, and she believes that this has led to alienation and a lack of both understanding and respect towards those who wear it. As she says, “such a portrait of myself would perhaps break the stereotypes and make it easier for people to understand the story behind my choice of wearing the niqab.”

Being a book at the Human Library is for her, a way of contributing to a better world and society. Through dialogue and conversation, she and the other books aim at challenging the stereotypes and prejudice in our society, as she says: “I believe that many of the world problems would be solved if only people would communicate more often and start to show respect to each other despite differences”. One of her clearest messages is, that she is not interested in, nor trying to convince other people to wear the niqab “I’m not [..] demanding others to understand why I’m wearing it. I understand that my choice is hard for some people to understand and I fully respect that. However, I’m requiring others to at least listen to what I have to say and to be acknowledged and respected as the human being I am”.

If you are interested in learning more about Meryem and her personal story, you can listen to her episode on our official Human Library podcast series called “Menneskebibliotekets podcastserie”. Meryem is also very active on social medias, and you can find her profile on Instagram as “niqabinuancer”. Here, she posts photos and stories about how it is to live as a Danish niqabi, and how the recent ban in Denmark has affected her life.

Lastly, we would like to cite Meryem from an Danish article published right after the burqa and niqab ban in Denmark, where she states beautifully: “Prejudice can only be challenged through dialogue, not by forcing the niqab off me.” [1] To us, this quote is essential to why the Human Library works so hard to promote dialogue and conversation, as it is the only way to reach human understanding, and to make people stop judging books by their covers.

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Book of the Month: September

The Human Library “Book of the Month” is a unique series of portraits of our different book collections from around the world. We created this series to emphasize the diversity in the topics we offer at the Human Library, and to give insights into our books personal experiences with volunteering for our organization.

If you haven’t already met her, prepare yourself to be amazed. Our “Book of the Month” from our September publication is the stunning 61 year old, Poppy Rose.

Alongside a dedicated every day life to campaign against inequality, being a poet, actor and a model, Poppy has been a bestseller at the Human Library for about 10 years. When asked about her reasons to become a book in the first place and why she is still active, Poppy stresses that she still haven’t won the battle against social bigotry and hate.

Ninety-nine percent of hate is fueled by the unknown.

For Poppy, the most important reason to be a part of the Human Library, book or a reader, is because of its unique way of creating a deeper understanding between people: “Only by opening your life up in the way Human Library does, you can expect to educate and change people’s attitudes to something that is ingrained in us all.”

To her, it is really true that if people continue to avoid conversation with the unknown, the hate among us will still continue:

“Hate is a self-fulfilling prophecy, because the less you know, the more you do not understand, and ninety-nine percent of hate is fueled by the unknown, which in turn widens the gap between two people and narrows down the chances of dialogue.”

To the Human Library, this perfectly put statement not only highlights the importance of our organization’s responsibility to continue to create space for conversation between our books and readers around the world, it surely also emphasizes how important it is that all of us in general start to open up for discourse.

As a transgender book, Poppy favorites Human Library experiences with readers, who devote themselves to the conversation and bring their own personal story, because it gives a more special and mutual experience, rather than a storytelling about Poppy and her life. When asked about most frequently asked questions from readers, Poppy answered the following: “It used to be ‘have you still got a penis’ and ‘how old was I when I first knew I wanted to be a women”, however these questions seems somewhat daft to her, and she also explains that today every book conversation is different.

To make a difference in someone’s life.

One of Poppy’s most remarkable Human Library experiences is from a few years back at a Human Library event in Birmingham together with three other fellow volunteers:

“There was an elderly lady with us, who was a book too. Meeting me and getting to know me, she told Nick and Oz afterwards once they had dropped me back off at home, and were taking her home, that the experience had completely changed her outlook on life. This is something that both Nick and Oz would often say was for them one of the best outcomes of their time in the Human Library.”

Another memorable experience is from Manchester, where Poppy met a reader who told her that she changed his life: “Another time was in Manchester, when I spoke to a guy (woman) who was on the verge of committing suicide because of Gender dysphoria. He /she told me, that our chance meeting had changed his life, and in his words saved him/her.

With a decade of honest and personal conversations, the fascinating thing about Poppy Rose is that when I asked her about the most important message/advice to her readers, she just answered that she is no different from them:

“Beneath my skin, I am the same as you.”

If you want to know more about Poppy Rose and her whereabouts you can either follow her personal Facebook page: The Fabulous Adventures Of Poppy Rose or her YouTube-channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvc8nD99Cx4PUfwpNKaYHfQ

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