Introducing the Human Library Online. A software developed and devoted to help facilitate our open books to readers in a safe space. With support from Masco and UGI Corporation we are launching our new library software to help us scale the volume of books we can publish and the amount of readers we can serve.

A dream becoming reality

It has been a long time dream to be able to publish our books online and to offer readers a more flexible access to our learning opportunities. In the past we have been limited by several factors. For in-person programming it would be about distance and availability. While online we have been hosting curated sessions using Zoom as the primary hosting software. The learning opportunities in the curated space will continue and be complimented by the new virtual bookshelf.

Increasing the volume of readers

The time has come to add another dimension to our work and strengthen our global reach. An online bookshelf with books publishing every day and readers joining at a time that is suitable for them while also offering the choice of topic.

“I am very proud to see this project go live and excited to see how readers and books will embrace the new opportunity to connect and perhaps Unjudge Someone”, says Human Library founder Ronni Abergel.

The first year the new library service will be available only to organizations, institutions and our corporate diversity partners. A public offering is expected in 2024.

The post New Human Library online reader service appeared first on The Human Library Organization.

We are the Human Library, a library for all of mankind and as our work develops, we try to focus on ensuring a broad access to our learning opportunities. This means we are continuously working for our library to be more inclusive for both readers and books. Last month we took another important step as we published for inmates from Stoke Heath Prison in the United Kingdom.

Shropshire libraries leading the way

For many years we have had the pleasure of a tremendous publishing partnership with Shropshire Libraries. Reaching readers in the community with incredible opportunities. However Shropshire Libraries are also a partner to the local prison and so together we approached the institution with an idea to bring our open books inside.

‘We have seen the impact that the Human Library has on readers in public libraries. With this first-ever pilot of the Human Library inside the prison, we were encouraging the incarcerated readers to ask and discuss difficult questions to see if we can find more things that connect us, rather than divide us within four walls. Readers in Stoke Heath were able to challenge their perceptions and ask personal questions about how the Human Library books deal with prejudice and stigma”, says Michael Lewis, Head of Shropshire Libraries.

Facing bias and stigma is universal

On the day of the session six inmates and equality representatives became Readers of three volunteer Human Library Books. Helping shed light on topics like transgender, bereavement, mental health, and growing up in care. Each reading ran for 25 minutes and all our readers were able to engage with the three books. Open and honest exchanges where readers allowed themself to be as vulnerable and open as the books sitting in front of them.

‘It was a great pleasure to work with the Human Library, Shropshire libraries, prison staff, and prisoner equalities representatives to organise this groundbreaking successful event at HMP/YOI Stoke Heath. Our prisoner equality representatives engaged extremely well, found all the topics very interesting, and had some really frank and open discussions to discuss prejudice. They all rated the event very highly and identified useful topics for future events, which will be taken to our equalities forum to help develop our strategy,” says Gill Pereira, Head of Reducing reoffending Stoke Heath Prison /YOI

What our Readers said

Here is what some of our Readers had to say about the experience.

“They were all inspirational and I took a lot away from meeting the books.”

“It was very touching hearing others’ opinions and views. It was quite emotional and amazing at the same time.”

“The bereavement affected me the most, it brought up personal experience, but healthy to do so, very happy for the experience.”

References:

Shropshire Libraries – https://shropshire.gov.uk/libraries/

Stoke Heath Prison – https://www.gov.uk/guidance/stoke-heath-prison

The post First Prison to Host a Human Library appeared first on The Human Library Organization.

A new program developed in partnership with the University of Glasgow’s School of Medicine will see more than 300 future Doctors become readers of the Human Library.

“We hope to run the program every year so all Glasgow graduates will learn how to ‘unjudge’. This will benefit not only our students but also the patients and colleagues they will encounter in their future careers. Medical students need to have a wide knowledge base that can be learnt from traditional books, but to be truly effective and compassionate doctors they need to develop more nuanced skills – communication, empathy, listening, reflection – and what better way to achieve that, than through interactions, and connections, with people and their lived experience – the human books,” says Dr. Lynsay Crawford, University Lecturer.

Equality in health care has long been a global challenge, and the pandemic has not helped improve the situation. One step towards more understanding and inclusion could be the reading exercises facing students from the University of Glasgow.

The post Future Doctors to become readers appeared first on The Human Library Organization.

Nichola Swallow from Tring in the United Kingdom started her Human Library journey as a Reader and is now a part of the community as a Human Book. She has been involved with voluntary work for many years, bringing awareness to the challenges connected to eating disorders.

Recognizing the bias

Nichola, who has worked as a Diversity and Inclusion Manager, thought she was an inclusive person, but becoming a Reader at the Human Library made her recognise that she had biases that she wasn’t even aware of. 

“It is an amazing opportunity to hear stories that people would otherwise never share with you, and it has made me realise that I have biases that I didn’t even know about”, Nichola says about her experiences as a Reader. 

Joining the community 

Nichola was inspired to become a Book herself, because she realised how the Human Library concept could help her challenge stereotypes on eating disorders. 

“At the Human Library, I can help challenge the stereotypes that eating disorders look a certain way. Having an eating disorder in a larger body is not recognised, and no one talks about it publicly,” she says about her inspiration for joining the Human Library as a volunteer Human Book. 

Nichola joined the organization during the pandemic and has therefore been published primarily at online workplace events. The Virtual Book Depot knows no national borders and is therefore able to publish English speaking Books from all around the world. Nichola highlights this as an unexpected benefit.

“Being a volunteer in the Human Library makes you understand perspectives from people around the globe, as you are exposed to a lot of different life experiences”. 

Teaching girls to value themselves 

At one of her readings she was asked by a father of daughters, how he could help prevent his girls from suffering from eating disorders. She told him that it is important to think about not only complimenting them on their looks, but instead teaching them that their looks are not the most valuable about them. 

“We need to teach them to value themselves, not only their body or their looks,” Nichola says about the prevention of eating disorders. 

“The man understood my message and said that he was really going to think about his interactions with his daughters. It was kind of a light bulb moment”, Nichola says about the interaction. 

Interacting with readers 

Prior to becoming involved with the Human Library, Nichola has done a tremendous amount of voluntary work as the ambassador for a charity. She has done the speaking at events and conferences and sat on advisory panels and therefore she has a deep insight into the challenges connected to eating disorders. 

She highlights that the voluntary experience at the Human Library is quite different from what else she has engaged in before.

“At the Human Library you allow letting the Reader read you, otherwise I just talk about stuff that I can recite in my dreams”. 

This interaction has the unexpected benefit that Nichola has started to think differently about herself.

“The interaction with the Readers makes me look at myself differently. Like maybe I should be a bit more kind to myself”. 

The post Book of the month: Eating Disorder appeared first on The Human Library Organization.

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/

The post New diversity quiz to help us unjudge appeared first on The Human Library Organization.