From Paris to Amsterdam to Borrow an Open Book

Orestis Christoforides reading an Open Book at Café Amstel Hoeck

With support from our friends at Heineken, the Human Library Book Cafe was open daily to readers at Café Amstel Hoeck. Three days in a row our Readers could borrow a Book while enjoying local drinks and dutch snacks. As always the services of the Human Library are free and so we registered more than 120 loans to readers. We were joined by Readers from Argentina, Belgium, Denmark, France, Hungary, Netherlands, Switzerland, USA, and Uruguay. One reader traveled from Paris in order to experience the Human Library:

“I traveled to Amsterdam specifically for the Human Library event as there were no events planned in France for the time being. I have been aware of the Human Library for some time after reading about it in the news. Being able to meet people who have such unique identities or are easily labeled or discriminated against seemed like a unique opportunity“, said Orestis Christoforides, who took a day off from work to become our reader. 

All Access to our Bookshelf

Our Book and their Reader at the Amstel Hoeck Café

In Amsterdam, our readers had a free choice of topics from our bookshelf and it was common that readers would borrow more than one book during their visit.“Time flew and I ended up staying for 5 hours and reading 5 different books”, said Orestis Christoforides about his experience. 

Among the topics, readers could choose from were Bisexual, Holocaust Survivor, Self Harm, Bipolar, Victim of Abuse, Victim of Stalking, Muslim, Transgender, and Body Modified to name but a few and as always our Librarians encouraged our Readers to be brave and curious when asking their questions: “Reading a human book is a fantastic experience. We are encouraged to ask very direct questions, so the conversations were incredibly open and comfortable. What pushed you to see a therapist? Have you done time? Do you have any prejudices of your own?”, says Orestis Christoforides. 

Here is what some of our Readers had to say:

There is also room for smiles in serious conversations

“It was really awesome to hear someone else’s experience that is so different from my own, and I felt super comfortable asking questions, which was lovely! Thank you!!”

“I think I’m just amazed at how much courage and openness it takes to tell strangers your stories and I’m grateful that the Human Library exists.”

“My conversation with a transgender person was a beautiful philosophical exploration with many great insights: like there is no truth, don’t make assumptions on how people behave.”

“There was a lot more going on behind the title. The books exposed their own human limitations and weaknesses very honestly, which is what I ended up relating to. I can say I returned from my short journey with the impression of having made friends and  feeling more capable at “unjudging” others, even people which I disagree with (or even dislike!)”

A thank you to our partners from Heineken for making it possible for us to contribute to the Amsterdam Pride Week program.

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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.

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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

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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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Ben Caron

Artist, activist and singer-songwriter. Now add book depot manager of the Human Librarys depot in Los Angeles to the list and you have a jack of all trades. Ben joined the newly formed book depot as a book in the fall of 2019 and quickly assumed a central role in the build-up of the new book collection.  

Despite the global pandemic limiting the options, Ben has been able to train around fifteen new books since January and is also training more librarians at the moment. However, he has not been alone and is thankful for the support from the HLO team. Talking about the team, Ben’s enthusiasm is clear: “every single person I have come into contact with through this project is so lovely”, he says, “everyone’s heart is in the right place and so willing to help each other and to make it work.” This attests to the kind of movement the Human Library is, he thinks: “The Human Library attracts really incredible people, people with big hearts and a drive to make the world a better place, and those are my people”. 

Before the Human Library, Ben was already involved with activism related to poverty, environmental justice, racial justice and fighting for equality related to gender and sexuality – which are all interconnecting issues, he emphasizes. 

Being a depot manager is time consuming, so why did he accept? “I believe that the thing the world needs most now is compassion and empathy, and this seems to me one of the most effective projects that I’ve come across to help build that,” Ben explains, “any project aiming at that kind of future I am willing to lend my time, energy and heart to.”

Besides, the project has been personally rewarding as well: “I have been really happy to do it because it makes me better and it makes my life better,” he says. Especially during this pandemic, the book depot has been a source of hope and provided a sense of connection. “It makes me feel positive about the future,” he admits, “and who doesn’t need hope in this time?”.

His favourite aspect of being a depot manager is training the books: “the most rewarding thing about this project so far has been watching the books share their experience for the first time in training, and understanding how powerful this experience can be”. Explaining how most of the books have never attended a Human Library event before, he adds: “The first time they experience it and their face lights up, you can just tell they are so excited about the possibilities with this library.”

The stories of the books affect him as well, both as manager and reader. An 80 year old man publishing as ‘gay’, for example, made an impact on Ben, who also published as ‘gay’: “to hear what an elder’s experience of being gay was, to hear how different it was, and how similar in some cases to my own story, was very powerful to me personally”. On the other hand, he also learns about issues he never knew much about before, when training a book publishing as Schizophrenic for example: “it’s always really powerful to check out a book that I have no idea about, then everything I am learning is new.”

In less than a year, Ben has been trained as a book and published for readers from UCLA. He has then been trained as a book depot manager and put in charge of developing the LA book depot into a community of books and librarians. His experiences have taught him that “there is a huge appetite for this kind of project in the world. We have this need to connect, need to tell our stories, a need to really listen to one another; a need to get out of our comfort zones and our bubbles and meet people that are unlike us.” Ben has noticed that many people are enthusiastic about the concept: “people are ready for the Human Library.” 

The Human Library LA Book Depot is still accepting new books. If you live near LA and have personal experiences that can help challenge stereotypes and prejudices or you want to help us publish our books at libraries, schools, conferences, festivals and virtual? Then click here to learn more from The Human Library Book FAQ!

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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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