The Human Library
One of the major programs in this framework is the Human Library.
At a Human Library, instead of books, you can “borrow” people. People with unique life stories volunteer to be the “books.”
For a certain amount of time, you can ask them questions and listen to their stories, which are as fascinating and as immersive as any you can find in a book.
Many of the stories have to do with some kind of stereotype or stigmatized topic.
You can speak with a refugee.
A soldier suffering from PTSD.
A homeless person.
A woman living with HIV.
But is within the scope of the community and volunteers who make it possible.
According to its website, The Human Library is
“A place where difficult questions are expected, appreciated and answered.”
The stories these “books” tell range from fascinating to heartbreaking and everything in between. And that’s the very point of the program—to prove that no person can be summed up in just one word.
It seeks to show people that you truly can’t judge a book by its cover—or by its title or label.
How can this help young people?
It’s true today that a vast amount of young people tend to appear to lack empathy and compassion for others, we could debate all day as to the reasons why, but the proof is in the pudding, often we never bother to look deeper as to the reasons why, is it just an act?Or is there a deeper underlying issue?
The Human Library can help young people by acting as a platform to bridge the gap between them and other members of the community.
Old and young.
The ‘bully’ and the bullied.
Business Owners who must deal with graffiti and vandalism.
Ex-convicts and young offenders.
Rehabilitated drug addicts and young drug users.
Those are just some of the potential “books” that could be available for a young person to learn from.
The Human Library encourages people to challenge their own preconceived notions—to truly get to know, and learn from, someone they might otherwise make a snap judgement about.
Human Library Landing Image: http://humanlibrary.org/
How does it Align with this Project?
How does it not?
I thought long and hard about how I can not only find and connect young people in the program with mentors but also a method of pairing them with mentors that would jam well with each of their individual personalities.
Then I remembered the Human Library and got to work redesigning it for Youth Mentoring.
The Idea is to screen and run the Human Library Sessions in a rotating timetable, so a group of young people can get around and hear the stories of every available volunteer participating in the program. Then the young people can select 1 or more “Book” that they jammed well with, fill out a short survey of why they would like to be connected with the mentor, and vice versa