Home » News » Human Library event tackles stereotypes

Human Library event tackles stereotypes

March 10, 2010
By Shreya Tekriwal

Who needs books when you can sign out human beings at the library?

Last week, the University of Guelph held its second human library, where readers were allowed to reserve “books” for 30-minute intervals.

According Janet Kaufman, Human Library co-ordinator at Guelph, the concept was first developed in Copenhagen, Denmark.  As part of the human library, readers have the opportunity to speak with a living book — an expert in his or her particular field.

“[Using the human library], we can explore issues that are sometimes very personal and often issues that result in people being stereotyped and marginalized. We try to reduce those stereotypes by having people talk to each other face to face,” Kaufman said. “Rather than reading a book, you talk.”

Some “books” are asked to participate based on their expertise, while others volunteer themselves.

“I went last year as a reader and signed out a few of the ‘books’ that were there and really enjoyed it, mostly because it was a really unique opportunity to talk to people about a topic you wouldn’t normally talk about,” Jennifer Storey, a participant of Guelph’s Human Library, said. “I enjoyed it so much I decided to be a book this year.”

Storey decided to draw upon her experiences as a mature student and called her “book” Back to School Again! Me?

“It’s like a one-stop shop,” Chris Langley, another “book” entitled Atheist, added. “It dawned on me that I had something I had to keep hidden [...] that is that I am atheist. So on a campus where there are no atheist groups, I ended up being book.”

While Langley believed there are definite advantages to having a human library, he noted there were some concerns surrounding the concept.

“There is a little bit [of] a controversy associated with it. In choosing a book title for yourself, you are sort of labelling yourself [...] We are in a society where you are kind of trying to get rid of labels [...] But it shouldn’t be a problem because it is up to the ‘books’ to choose their own title,” he explained.

A similar concept known as the Living Library was implemented at King’s University College during Career Week at Western.

Examples of “books” available at King’s included a stay-at-home Dad, a midwife and a female priest.

A runner with disabilities and a Canadian soldier, were also on loan at Guelph.

“We have a set of rules for our readers. If you boiled it down, it would be: be nice, be respectful, ask questions, but [it’s] not intended to debate one’s position over someone else’s,” Kaufman noted. “We also tell the books that if they feel uncomfortable, they are free to end the conversation and if necessary, we would intervene on their behalf.”

However, Kaufman assured such a situation did not arise last year or at this year’s event.

“I hope [Guelph does] it again. It’s that opportunity to communicate on a really deeply fulfilling level because you’re actually touching each others’ lives in a very short amount of time,” Storey added.

—With files from Meagan Kashty

Follow the Gazette on Facebook and Twitter.