Human libraries: where you 'borrow' people instead of books

The society in which we live has made interpersonal relationships and communications increasingly complicated. To help solve it, in Denmark they have launched an initiative that the world is embracing: the human library.

Photo: Twitter - @TheHumanLibrary

As its name indicates, the human library offers its users the possibility of having people to talk about a specific topic and during a previously stipulated period of time.

Photo: Twitter - @TheHumanLibrary

It is similar to what occurs with books in a library, except that in this case, the books are people and the objective is to talk with them about the topic in which the user is interested.

Photo: Twitter - @TheHumanLibrary

The original human library (Menneskebiblioteket ) was born in Copenhagen in the year 2000 and its objective is as simple as it is worthy of applause: "Readers can borrow human beings serving as open books and have conversations they would not normally have access to," as the website itself says.

Photo: Twitter - @TheHumanLibrary

The human library makes its 'books' available to users so that they can consult, ask and chat about their life, their experiences or their ideas, on a given subject.

Photo: Twitter - @TheHumanLibrary

On the one hand, users learn to understand what day-to-day life is like for people of another race, with a rare illnesses, of another gender, another religion, or any type of characteristic or circumstance that may be of interest to another person.

Photo: Twitter - @TheHumanLibrary

On the other hand, the 'books' expose their point of view from a personal and direct perspective, breaking down many taboos, stigmas and prejudices, through words and reason.

Photo: Twitter - @TheHumanLibrary

Thus, on a normal day in the human library, a user can find books on disability, ethnic origin, deafness, obesity, poverty, autism, gender or refugees, to give a few examples.

Photo: Twitter - @TheHumanLibrary

The feeling of closeness generated by these face-to-face interactions helps break down prejudices, hearing their testimonies first hand, in a more impressive way than if they were read in a book.

Photo: Twitter - @TheHumanLibrary

The success of the human library is clear when, in just over 20 years, the idea has already reached more than 70 countries, according to the 'Human Library' on its website.

Photo: Twitter - @TheHumanLibrary

One of the premises that is made clear on the website is that the human library is a safe space for dialogue, whatever the topic to be discussed.

Photo: Twitter - @TheHumanLibrary

"We are looking for people who are homeless, unemployed, depressed, with mental health issues, disabilities, who can help educate us."

Photo: Twitter - @TheHumanLibrary

To use the human library, all you have to do is choose a 'book' and the user will have it for 30 minutes, during which they will be able to listen to its story and, obviously, ask any questions they deem appropriate.

Photo: Twitter - @TheHumanLibrary

Although there is no censorship, it may be the case that a book does not want to answer a question. Obviously, it is also a safe space for books.

Photo: Twitter - @TheHumanLibrary

In fact, the human library is very insistent that users take care of the books. "We want the book to come back on time, we need it in the same conditions, you can't take it home," says on the website.

Photo: Twitter - @TheHumanLibrary

And what about the language? As the ideologues of the human library expose, they always try to bring together people who share a language, just as they try to bring together people who are very distant from each other, so that the impact of the meeting is greater.

Photo: Twitter - @TheHumanLibrary

Among the applications that have derived from this human library is the agreement reached by the University of Glasgow with one of them, to convert 300 medical students into regular readers of the Human Library.

Photo: Twitter - @TheHumanLibrary

As Dr. Lynay Crawford points out to Forbes, the goal is for future doctors to learn not to judge patients. "They must develop skills such as communication, empathy or reflection and what better way to achieve this than through interactions and connections with people and their lived experience: human books."

Photo: Twitter - @TheHumanLibrary