“The Human Library® creates a safe space for dialogue where topics are discussed openly between our human books and their readers.”
~ HumanLibrary.org
At the Human Library®, people are published in 30-minute conversations. Anders Fransen suffers from a rare genetic condition and is published under the titles, “Deaf Blind” and “Rare Handicap.” He explains his reason for joining the library, “I want to give people awareness that behind my conditions, I’m a person.”
The human books are volunteers with personal experience with their topic. Difficult questions are expected, appreciated and answered. You can check out a person for a 30-minute conversation from the library on topics as diverse as “Early Retired,” “High IQ,” “Lonely,” “Bullied,” and “Misophonia.”
The non-profit organization started in Denmark, but is now in over 80 countries.
Look for a Human Library near you. Check out a person from the library and discover the meaning of the slogan, “unjudge someone.” Or just find a local person to talk to in conversation. There are plenty of “unpublished” people out there waiting for their stories to be uncovered. As the saying goes, “Don’t judge a person by their cover.”
Give them an open-ended prompt or question. Be curious. Ask more questions. Sit back. And Listen!
Sample prompts
- Tell me about the place that you grew up in.
- Tell me about your favorite teacher.
- Do you remember your first day of school? What do you remember about school?
- What’s your favorite food? Why? When did you first discover it?
- What’s the most interesting place that you’ve been?
References
- Human Library Website, https://humanlibrary.org/
- EuroNews.com Article, “At Denmark’s Human Library you can read people like a book, and ‘unjudge’ them…”