In Copenhagen exists a library where you can borrow books … human books. Exactly, people with a story. The Human Library is, in the true sense of the word, the library of people. Readers can borrow human beings serving as open books and have conversations they would not normally have access to.  Every human book from the “bookshelf”, represents a group in our society that is often subjected to prejudice, stigmatization or discrimination because of their lifestyle, diagnosis, belief, disability, social status, ethnic origin etc.

I have always imagined people as stories. Modern Homo sapiens (that is, humans who were more or less like us now) first walked the Earth about 50,000 years ago. Since then, more than 108 billion members of our species have ever been born, according to estimates by the Population Reference Bureau (PRB). Given the current global population of about 7.5 billion (2019 estimate), this means that people now account for about 7% of the total number of people who have ever lived. The PRB also estimates that by 2050 about 113 billion people will ever live on Earth. Imagine how many life stories!

The Human Library hosts virtual events in libraries, museums, festivals, conferences, schools, and universities. All “human books” are volunteers with personal experience on their subject.

Do you have a really interesting and valuable life story from which other people can learn or do you want to challenge a stereotype or help challenge stigma and stereotypes through dialogue and personal conversations? Are you like an open book that readers could benefit from? Then the Human Library can publish your story.

How cool is that? Would you read a human book?

You can find more details about The Human Library here.