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COLUMN: Don’t judge a book by its cover

Be a part of the Human Library
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Since registering with the Human Library last year, I’ve been following the Danish organization on Facebook. I’m not Facebooky by nature; I don’t like its transitory flavor-of-the-momentness, never mind the current creepy personal-information-sharing controversy. But if I put on my blinders and just follow the things I care about—such as the Human Library—I learn some wonderful things.

Which is interesting, because The Human Library—in which people “check out” real live human “books” for a one-on-one conversation—is all about taking the blinders off. It’s about looking away from our iPhones and iPads and Facebook feeds and talking to someone about something that matters. Human Library events happen worldwide, and the Nelson Library’s is happening Thursday, April 26 at 7 p.m.

What I like about following The Human Library on Facebook is that I can read about HL events taking place in Botswana, South Korea, Holland, Australia, the Philippines and more, all occurring in libraries, schools, seniors’ homes and community centres.

There, people might check out Human Books with titles such as Anorexic, Schizophrenic, Dyslexic, Transgender, Bipolar, or Asperger. Borrowers might learn about an occupation that is maligned or misunderstood: Politician, mortician, or comedian-librarian. Perhaps there’s a nanogenarian aiming to combat ageism. A book might be activist, anarchist, or teetotalist—the L-ist goes on.

For nearly 20 years The Human Library has encouraged respectful conversation between humans who might not otherwise talk with one another, and still the need for conversations such as these persists. Sadly, organizers of the Human Library in St. Petersburg were recently asked to remove a human book entitled Homosexual from the reading list.

Public libraries are, at their crux, egalitarian. Which is why a Human Library project is such a great fit, and holds such a fascination for me And so I log in to that frenetic Facebook world, if only to see where the Human Library will pop up next, where borrowers and books will meet to bust myths, dispel assumptions, foster understanding, and celebrate humanness. I’m so happy that the Nelson Library will once again be a part of this.

If you think you have a story to tell that could offer a new view, consider being a book. It takes a little courage and a few hours of your time. Everything—from your book title to your descriptive text to the three “ice-breaker” questions you get to compose—is created with you involved. There will be an orientation evening where you’ll get to meet the other “books” and practice a little, and then on the evening itself you’ll get “checked out” for a maximum of four times—with each conversation being unique, because your “borrower” will come with experiences and questions, too.

The Human Library, when it began in Copenhagen, was an experiment: organizers weren’t sure who would turn up, but they figured that the books would talk to each other, at least. And, initially, that was what happened: the policeman began talking to the graffiti artist, the politician with the radical activist. And then the first borrowers turned up, and it took off from there. What began with a youth group called “Stop the Violence” is now a worldwide phenomenon. The tagline? Don’t judge a book by its cover. That’s good advice.

Last year’s books came away feeling as empowered as their borrowers: enlightened, uplifted, and inspired by one another’s courage, insight, and willingness to be open and listen. In a world where we routinely click “like” or add that happy face emoji and then move on, real conversations such as this are vital. If you think you want to be a book, call me; if you want to experience the Human Library first-hand I hope to see you on April 26. You don’t need to “like” us to join us.

Anne DeGrace is the Adult Services Coordinator at the Nelson Public Library. You can contact her about the Human Library at 505-5684 or adegrace@nelson.ca. Check This Out runs every other week.