stigma Archives - The Human Library Organization https://humanlibrary.org/tag/stigma/ Don’t Judge a Book By its Cover Tue, 05 Jul 2022 16:07:57 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 First Prison to Host a Human Library https://humanlibrary.org/first-prison-to-host-a-human-library/ Tue, 05 Jul 2022 09:34:47 +0000 https://humanlibrary.org/?p=88325 In partnership with Shropshire Libraries, we brought the Human Library inside the walls to publish for inmates from Stoke Heath Prison.

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First Prison to Host a Human Library

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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The Human Library is Looking for Interns https://humanlibrary.org/internship/ Mon, 07 Mar 2022 12:52:33 +0000 https://humanlibrary.org/?p=88219 The Human Library is looking for interns to join our International Department, and International DEI Dialogue Team in the fall of 2022.

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The Human Library is looking for students to intern at our Copenhagen Office for the fall of 2022. Whether you wish to work with volunteer coordination, managing and assisting international local partnerships or coordinating and delivering DEI focused programs for some of the world’s biggest corporations and organizations, you will be challenged and given responsibility at the Human Library.

As an intern at the Human Library, you will be working closely with and be responsible for coordinating and implementing independent projects. As part of the secretariat team, you will also be involved in tasks from different areas of responsibility, collaborating with other interns, volunteers, and employees. We value making use of each other’s resources and perspectives across differences, and experiences. You can read more about the different positions here:

We are always interested in applications from skilled and engaged persons regardless of ethnic background, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, religion, or age. We also encourage candidates with special needs to apply.

 

Send your Cover Letter, CV, and relevant material to Head of Secretariat, Silke Bech no later than Monday March 28th at 12PM. Interviews will be held shortly after. 

 

Read more about the Human Library

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All books booked at launch of new Human Library Book Café https://humanlibrary.org/all-books-booked-at-launch-of-new-human-library-book-cafe/ Wed, 02 Feb 2022 18:45:27 +0000 https://humanlibrary.org/?p=88157 Readers were lining up down the hallway and out onto the street, so tremendous was the interest in the launch of our new Human Library Book Café offering in London. Hosted in collaboration with the Society of Authors we have created an opportunity to get quick and easy access to our books. 

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Readers were lining up down the hallway and out onto the street, so tremendous was the interest in the launch of our new Human Library Book Café offering in London. Hosted in collaboration with the Society of Authors we have created an opportunity to get quick and easy access to our books. 

 

Get a coffee and an open book

The new format encourages readers to grab a coffee and check out a book in café-style surroundings. You get to choose your topic and sit for up to 30 minutes asking questions of your open book. The loans can be one-on-one or in small groups. It is intimate and quite personal and not really built for larger groups of readers. Balancing demand and supply can create a slightly longer wait at some points of the day, nevertheless the feedback from readers was still excellent. 

 

Happy books and readers

With books available on topics such as Queer Parent, Raised In Care, Blind and more, our readers used the opportunity to explore diversity and learn about how different groups in society experience being judged by the cover of their book. All books were on loan for the entirety of the session.

 

One reader commented on their experience, “It was quite amazing gaining that very personal perspective, and it is very unusual in day-to-day life to get that very personal perspective. I think in the world today with a growing divide between people, events such as these help us to bridge that gap.”

 

Another reader remarked, “Having that connection with people instead of assuming and guessing. We assume that people have a certain life, but really, we don’t even know ourselves that well, and so how do we think that we could know other people better? Without having any expectations, I came out of this library reading feeling a lot more inspired.”

 

Why safe spaces in the community are important

This reflection is helpful in understanding how the Human Library works. Most people are keen to better understand those who are different from them and to an increasing degree accept a soft encounter with their own unconscious bias, but obviously a safe space is needed to do so and knowing that the person volunteered to be an open book on their lived experience, makes all the difference.

 

Perhaps, the strong demand underlines that we live in a time where many exchanges happen within echo chambers provided by social media and that there is an increasing awareness of the need for meaningful social interaction aimed at helping us better understand the diversity in our communities, helping us learn how to relate and engage across cultures and backgrounds.

A safe space to engage in dialogue with people, whom you might not have the social courage to engage with outside of the library space, is a rare opportunity.

 

More events on the horizon 

That Sunday afternoon at the premises of the Society of Authors also left us with tremendous inspiration. Seeing the great turnout, feeling the ambiance, and talking with a lot of happy readers, it was evident that there is a need for these accessible formats such as the Human Library Book Café and so we are already planning more opportunities for readers in London, Norwich, Edinburgh, Warwick, Manchester and Plymouth for 2022.

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New diversity quiz to help us unjudge https://humanlibrary.org/new-diversity-quiz-to-help-us-unjudge/ Mon, 01 Mar 2021 19:20:44 +0000 https://humanlibrary.org/?p=87764 New diversity quiz to help us unjudge 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…

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New diversity quiz to help us unjudge

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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The Human Library launches in New York City https://humanlibrary.org/the-human-library-launches-in-new-york-city/ Tue, 05 Jan 2021 11:01:03 +0000 https://humanlibrary.org/?p=87117 The Human Library is opening a new book depot for New York City. The Brooklyn based depot will welcome readers online on January 24th, 2021.

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The Human Library launches in New York City

We are proud to announce the introduction of a new Human Library book depot for New York City. Over the past months members of many different communities have come together and joined forces to help us create safe spaces, where we can learn about our diversity.

Based in Brooklyn

New York now joins a list of cities across the US to host a local Human Library Book Depot. San Francisco, LA, Chicago, Muncie, Fort Wayne are others. It is not an easy task to build a book collection from scratch and to establish a strong group of librarians that can help publish our books to readers.

Technically the new book collection is based in Brooklyn and spearheaded by among other librarian and book depot manager Leslie Lucas Gallager.

“New York City is such a big place, but it’s really a patchwork of neighborhoods and personal networks. It has been a wonderful challenge for me and for our librarians to tap into those networks and find our friends (and friends of friends) who not only have a challenging aspect of their lives but are also willing to talk about it”.

Human Library founder Ronni Abergel is excited about the potential for impact in the city.

“New York and especially Brooklyn is one of the most diverse places on earth. So it is wonderful for us to finally be able to help build understanding across the many communities living here. With the resources now in place, we will be more available to local libraries, schools, colleges, universities, festivals and work places”.

Partnerships that are crucial to the sustainability of the book depot.

Publishing virtually at first

Due to the pandemic the first meeting with readers will be online and its planned for January 24th. A selection of the new book collection will be published using the Zoom platform.

Among the titles expected to be available you can find books on: “Unseen Disability”, “Homeschooler”, “Mother of a Transgender Daughter”, “Intersectional Blackness”, “Refugee”, “Mother of a son with Down’s Syndrome”, “Transracial Adoptee”, “PTSD”, “Non-binary”, “Lesbian”, “Lonely”, “Buddhist”, and “Formerly Incarcerated”. 

Rising demand online

The demand for the Human Library’s online events is rising sharply and more than 60 sessions are already planned for 2021. The January 24th event is free to readers and you need to be able to set aside two hours to become our reader.

You can find more information about the opportunity to participate in the launch of the new book depot for New York City by following the link below.

https://fb.me/e/13glTh8i0

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Dhaka book depot manager in the spotlight https://humanlibrary.org/dhaka-book-depot-manager-in-the-spotlight/ Wed, 07 Oct 2020 11:44:08 +0000 https://humanlibrary.org/?p=31248 "As I cried for social justice, I found the issues of intolerance and conflict to be something that desperately needs to be worked on.”

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Dhaka depot manager in the spotlight: Rafsan Hoque

Recently the Human Library celebrated its 20th anniversary. Twenty years of challenging stereotypes through personal conversations in over 80 countries around the world. A cause for celebration, but also a moment to put those who help make it all possible in the spotlight! This series aims to do just that, as we talk with our local book depot managers about their work for the community.

Rafsan Hogue is a co-founder and the General Secretary of the Human Library in Bangladesh. He and his friends Mushfiq, Upoma and Rifa started the library with some friends in 2017, after talking about the concept during one of their daily jogs. Since then, the depot has organised eight reading events and has helped giving back to local communities in several ways.

Founding of the Human Library in Bangladesh

“Mushfiq and I used to jog every night. We would talk about different stuff around us, mostly societal issues,” Rafsan remembers. 

“Mushfiq always has a keen eye for new ideas,” he says. “One day he introduced me to the idea of the Human Library which he read about online. It felt like it was everything we were willing to do and more. So, we reached out to our good friends Upoma, Rifa and more, formed a team and applied as soon as possible.”

The group was so excited to get started they could hardly wait: 

“We were not sure if we would get the opportunity, so we were very anxious. Our application was long and we worked a lot on it. After submitting our application, we became even more anxious. We could not hold ourselves and just ended up calling Ronni before giving them enough time to see the application. We received a positive response and started from there immediately.”

Working to build understanding

Rafsan believes the concept of the Human Library aligns well with his values and interests. Even though he knew little about diversity when he grew up, he became aware of it when he started studying:

“I find Bangladesh to be a relatively homogenous country in terms of ethnic and religious diversity, as 98% of the people are ethnically Bengali and 89% are Muslim. Being born in the city, I was not aware of much diversity around me,” he explains. “However, when I started my bachelor’s on Development Studies at University of Dhaka, I was exposed to a broad forum of multi-cultural groups and students coming from different parts of the country.”

Unfortunately, he also experienced much intolerance at his university. This led him to become passionate about creating the space to help us better understand our diversity:

“While I did find a confluence of diversity, I also found many to have an aversion towards change and towards people who were seemingly different. As I cried for social justice on different fronts, I found the issue of intolerance and conflict to be something that desperately needs to be worked on.”

This passion led Rafsan to become a researcher in development. It is also the reason he and his friends started the Human Library Book Depot in Dhaka. Rafsan agrees with both the purpose and the method of the library: “To promote understanding and empathy is something that I really believe in and want to pursue. Besides, the one-on-one intimate conversation method is unique and great for impactfully sharing the message.” he says. “Therefore, I like why we do it and how we do it.”

People and their life experiences are the heart of the library

Rafsan’s main function in the Human Library is finding, training and welcoming new books. He likes working with the books, as they are key to what the Human Library is all about:

“I believe the beauty of the Human Library is in its books. The books are the heart of the library and they make our events unforgettable. I have always loved positive stories. I was always intrigued by the posts of Humans of New York and have always wanted to share stories like that. So this has been an amazing opportunity for us.”

He especially loves his own personal experience with the books:

“My favourite thing about being a depot manager is to be able to talk to the books one-on-one. The stories are the heart of the Human Library. I love listening to them. And if I get to sit with them before the event, I get to hear the uncut, unprocessed version of it and ask as many questions as I like. It is quite thrilling to find someone you do not know and have an intimate conversation.”

Publishing stigmatized frontline personnel

Every country in the world has been affected by COVID-19 in different ways. In Bangladesh, the virus has created panic and uncertainty. Mistrust towards those working in the frontline to fight the pandemic has especially been prevalent, according to Rafsan.

Therefore, the Dhaka book depot is working on an initiative called ‘Know Your Heroes’. The goal is to publish stories of those who work to improve the conditions during the pandemic:

“We wanted to highlight stories of these heroes who need to be heard, in order to reduce conflict and create a positive mindset about frontliners and people in general. We felt people needed some positive stories.”

The team is planning to publish ten stories. “Our target is also to ensure diversity in these stories so that people become aware and more empathic of different communities,” Rafsan says.

Among the heroes is a trans woman (hijra) who helped out trans communities in Bangladesh during the pandemic. Another example is the captain of the Bangladesh wheelchair cricket team, who sent resources to disabled people across the country.

This way, the Human Library in Bangladesh helps to uplift the voices of those who are often unheard, even during a pandemic!

To learn more about the Human Library Book depot in Dhaka and our work in Bangladesh, visit the facebook page.

Want to get involved in your local Human Library book depot? Volunteer here

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LA Book Depot Manager in the spotlight https://humanlibrary.org/la-book-depot-manager-in-the-spotlight/ Thu, 02 Jul 2020 19:40:07 +0000 https://humanlibrary.org/?p=19343 “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.”

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On June 27th 2020, the Human Library celebrated its 20th anniversary. Twenty years of challenging stereotypes through personal conversations in over 80 countries around the world. A cause for celebration, but also a moment to put those who help make it possible in the spotlight! This series aims to do just that, as we talk with our local book depot managers about the work they do.

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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Unjudgement Day – why it matters, especially now https://humanlibrary.org/unjudgement-day-why-it-matters-especially-now/ Wed, 24 Jun 2020 21:01:17 +0000 https://humanlibrary.org/?p=19263 “This is what the planet needs right now to get past our predispositions for war and violence and get to a place of diplomacy and care towards one another.”

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On June 27th the Human Library will celebrate Unjudgement Day, to honour our 20th anniversary. On this day, an international digital event will be held where readers can interact with books from across the world. Besides, several depots have organised their own events. The concept of the Human Library seems more relevant than ever, even twenty years after its inception. Both the global pandemic and recent Black Lives Matter protests have made existing inequalities more evident than ever and demonstrate the importance of human connection and understanding across differences. Three human library organizers – Ben, Katy and Rafsan – talk about their recent work and why the Human Library is important, especially now.

Ben – LA Book Depot Manager

After volunteering as a book for the Human Library last year, Ben started as depot manager in LA in January. That means he only had a few months as depot manager before everything went digital when lockdown was implemented in the US. Fortunately, however, translating the idea of the Human Library into a digital space has been going well and he admits that “during this pandemic, it has been a source of hope for me and a source of connection. It makes me feel positive about the future.” The LA depot will host their first virtual event on Unjudgement Day using Zoom with fifteen different books available to readers.

Ben is passionate about the Human Library and its capacity for change: “This is what the planet needs right now to get past our predispositions for war and violence and get to a place of diplomacy and care towards one another.”

He also emphasizes that the Human Library is relevant to current BLM protests. “The protests point out how important telling the stories and lifting the voices of black people is in this country,” he says. The Human Library can play an important role here: “This project is important because it holds a space in which black people can be heard and share their stories, and where white people can show up and learn and expand their consciousness, allowing someone else’s story to take center-stage.” The LA depot can help, as it has “some great black books, who are great at telling their stories in moving and powerful ways,” Ben explains. Their stories, among the stories of other books, can be heard for the first time during LA’s Unjudgement Day event this weekend.

Katy – UK Coordinator

Katy has been involved with the Human Library for eleven years as a book and three years as organizer and trainer based in the UK. Even though the UK’s Unjudgement Day events have been cancelled due to the pandemic, some UK-based books will be available to read on the international digital Unjudgement Day event.

Katy feels that the value of the Human Library lies in its ability to create opportunities for personal change through one-on-one conversations: “I found that one-to-ones are often more powerful than the one-to-manys, and even though that means that it will take a lot longer to improve the world we live in, if you multiply the one-to-ones happening, it can actually grow very quickly”.

The BLM protests have made her even more aware that the Human Library needs more people of color to be part of the local book depots, Katy thinks. Simultaneously, however, she emphasizes how this also means that the Library should be platforming more police officers. Furthermore, the focus on accessibility counts for all books: “As the Human Library, we should be making sure our events are not white – but also not cis, and not able-bodied. That is the whole point of the Human Library, we never focus on one group. All of our events have to have a minimum of six diversities, preferably eight, out of twelve broad categories that we recognize.”

“We are about creating the opportunity for everyone to improve and create a better world themselves,” she says, “We are not creating the world, we are creating the opportunity. And the opportunity is always a conversation.”

Rafsan – Bangladesh Book Depot Manager

Rafsan got involved with the Human Library in 2017 and played a role in co-founding the Bangladesh depot in the capital Dhaka. They have also published the books at a virtual event recently and with the feedback so far more are in the pipeline: “I think the nice part was that people were able to have a positive or thought-provoking experience in the middle of everything that has been going on. We were under strict lockdown during that time. Therefore, many were getting frustrated staying indoors day after day. Readers were able to have a fresh experience and something to think about in the middle of all this chaos.”

Like Katy, Rafsan values the Human Library for its intimate setting: “The one-on-one intimate conversation method is unique and great for impactfully sharing the message,” he says, adding that “The stories are the heart of Human Library.” While this can also happen digitally, Rafsan does miss the feeling that face-to-face conversation brings.

Currently, he is busy engaging in fundraisers related to the pandemic and helping to distribute protective material to health care workers, as the lockdown has partially lifted but cases are increasing. This is also the reason BLM protests have not taken places as much as in the UK and the US. Furthermore, racism in Bangladesh is different. 98% are ethnically Bengali, and racism comes more in the form of colourism. Still, the global protests have sparked tough conversations about this issue, and he is planning to continue this conversation in the Human Library in Bangladesh.

Need for Unjudgement

While Ben, Katy and Rafsan have been with the Human Library for different amounts of time and work in different parts of the world, their experiences and motivations for continuing their work for the Human Library during these trying times are very similar. It is all about creating opportunities to find common ground and perhaps some mutual understanding – in short: a chance to unjudge each other.

Follow the Human Library on FB to stay updated on events in connection with Unjudgement Day.

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Book of the Month: From Peru to the Bay https://humanlibrary.org/book-of-the-month-from-peru-to-the-bay/ Mon, 01 Jun 2020 10:55:51 +0000 https://humanlibrary.org/?p=18670 "I saw tears dropping from her eyes as I spoke about the violence and insecurity I faced as a child and how my parents worked hard to pull my family out of that environment"

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From Peru to the Bay

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 bookshelves around the world. It also provides unique insights into the motivations and values of being a book and volunteering for our organization.

Two years on the bookshelf has helped our Book of the Month learn as much about himself, as he has about his readers. The journey has not been easy, but it has always been rewarding, says Leonardo Blas Urrutia or Leo as his friends call him. 

He is a young man, full of life, ambition, energy and optimism. A man with a gentle nature and a quiet pleasant presence. He takes time to find his words and you can tell he is very keen to be clear, as one former US president liked to say. Because there has been some misunderstandings for the 22 year old college student from Peru, now living in Californias Bay Area. 

“I joined the Human Library two years ago after I saw an ad on campus for an upcoming event at Foothill College, where I study. The ad made me realise that I had rarely questioned my stance on how other people treated and perceived me. I tried to ignore and normalize experiences like being underlooked for being a community college student, or being called a Mexican despite asserting I’m Peruvian.” 

For Leo the library has been an opportunity to better understand himself and his readers.

“When I learned about the library I felt an impulse I knew I had to follow, and I haven’t stopped. I’ve used the Human Library events as avenues to engage in conversation with myself and my readers, and have scratched the surface of topics I never thought were part of my life. For instance, after opening up during my first event, at Foothill College, I noticed that I had several misconceptions about myself, and that the most rational action I could take was to visit a counselor, which led to a PTSD diagnosis. And during one of my most recent events, hosted by UCLA, telling a Japanese family about my personal struggles while studying led me into counseling again, and an ADHD diagnosis.”

Human Library events take place in high schools, colleges, universities, libraries, community centres but also in work places. One of Leo´s finest moments as an open book happened during a reading for staff from eBay.

“It was my first corporate event and I was published at eBay’s headquarters in San Jose. After opening up to a group of four employees and telling them about the financial and socioeconomic struggles my family faced during our early stages, a lady of african american background empathized and resonated with my story. I saw tears dropping from her eyes as I spoke about the violence and insecurity I faced as a child and how my parents worked hard to pull my family out of that environment. After the reading we approached each other and hugged. It was a very heart-warming experience for me.”

Leo is on loan from the Human Library Bay Area Book Depot and this month among other he will be published online for staff from MASCO Corporation and as part of the collection for Unjudgement Day at the end of June. Helping us mark 20 years of Human Libraries across the world.

More information on Unjudgement Day

Apply to be published as a book in the Human Library.

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Book of the month: Transgender in Copenhagen https://humanlibrary.org/book-of-the-month-transgender-in-copenhagen/ Thu, 02 Jan 2020 15:33:06 +0000 https://humanlibrary.org/?p=17962 Meet Aske Ravn, a 25 year old dane from Copenhagen and open book on being Transgender. 

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Book of the month: Transgender in Copenhagen

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 bookshelves around the world. It also provides unique insights into the motivations and values of being a book and volunteering for our organization.

For Aske becoming a book in the Human Library was something that happened by way of coincidence. One day at school the Human Library was on the schedule for the days program. After attending as a reader Aske was approached by a librarian and encouraged to join the Copenhagen Book Depot. That was three years ago and the rest is history as they say.

“The event made such an impression on me, that when I gave it some thought I realized that my journey could also be of value to others and so why not try and help people better understand”, he says.

“When I publish my primary topic has been Transgender, but I am also lent out to be open about my social anxiety, a skitzotypical disorder and my body modifications. I stay a busy book.”

Aske can no longer recall how many times he has been published, but attends as many events as possible, which usually means two events and sometimes more, each month.

Challenging the stereotypes

Bestseller of the year 2018, Aske Ravn.

With 3 to 5 loans at each event, Aske is a very popular book and he has had many different conversations. 

“Every loan is different, but usually I challenge the first three main stereotypes, before I even open my mouth: You see to most people I don’t look “transgender” and very many of them are expecting to meet a man dressed as a woman, or they expect a cross dresser to come out”.

With the body modifications, the many piercings and tattoos along with significant facial hair in the form of a beard, Aske also has the experience that many readers assume that it must be quite difficult to find a partner.

 “I honestly have never ever had anyone turn me down because of my gender or body.” 

The complexity of transitioning

After the first most common are out of the way, many readers also tend to assume that Aske is looking to go through surgery for a formal gender change.

 “The thing is I have never wanted that. It is my impression that many of my readers are of the assumption that transgender’s transitions is a black and white thing. From one gender, to the other, with no gray zones. But usually it’s not, and actually most of the transgender people that I know, and that is quite a few, don’t feel like they need to change alot of things, because to us, there’s not really a change happening. We know who we are, we’re just telling the world how it is. To everyone else, it seems like a lot of change is happening, but really, we’re just finally living the life we always felt was right for us. And unfortunately, some changes need to happen to our body, for people to accept who we really are. 

Most frequently answered questions

Aske explains that usually the conversations will include questions such as; What did your parents say, what is your sexual orientation, and when did you know. From there the loan can go in many directions. 

“We talk about my feelings about transitioning, how society and the government treats me, what physically happens to my body when injecting hormones, how I wish to be treated, and so on”. 

Helping people better understand

Becoming an open book made a lot of sense to Aske. Who loves to be the one to actually go and do something. He feels he does that by helping to offer a safe space where people can challenge the stereotypes and ask freely.  

“It’s awesome for me to see it happening right in front of my eyes, and to know that I did something nice for everybody else from my community. Because after the 30 minute conversation, I know my readers will talk to their friends and family about what they learned.”

Aske is very aware that not all questions can be answered and that the takeaways from readers are as bountiful for him as they seem to be for them.

“To meet with someone, who actually really wants to listen to what I have to say, and take that in. Some of them ask questions, that I might have never thought about, and that helps me get to know myself better, and also to be completely open in my answers. I always do my best to answer honestly and sometimes the answer I have to give is – I have no idea.” 

A valuable meeting for all involved

According to Aske, the Human Library creates something with value for all involved.

“I just honestly love the whole concept. This really brings people together. I talk to people I would otherwise never have had a conversation with. And I learn so much myself from both my readers, and the other books. I didn’t know much about blindness, deafness, incest, alot of mental disorders, and so on, before I got to meet them in the book depot. I even made friends with a police officer, that’s for sure something I thought would never happen”.

Something healthy about being open

As the years in the book collection add on, Aske remains in active circulation.

“It’s always healthy to challenge yourself, and to willingly learn or unlearn something. It opens up your world to meet different people, or it can be healing to mirror yourself in someone, and learn something about yourself”. 

Aske Ravn is on loan at events hosted by the Human Library book depot in Copenhagen since 2016.

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