Let People Check You Out!

The Human Library Project lets borrowers check out human beings!

Imagine going to a library seeking information, but instead of checking out a book, you check out a person!

That's the idea behind a project called the Human Library — a place where real people are on loan to the library users. Those real people, because of the facts of their lives, represent categories such as Muslim, bipolar, single young mother, unemployed, HIV victim, autistic, sexually abused, convert, brain-damaged, molested, deaf and blind, soldier with PTSD, homeless, alcoholic, ADHD and so forth.

They are typically available at a scheduled event that might run for several hours over one or more days. Borrowers go to the event and select a category they'd like to know more about. The human "book" then sits down for 30 minutes or so with the borrower and shares his or her story, and the borrower gets to ask questions.

Want to know what it's like to be a refugee? There's likely a refugee in that human library ready to explain that experience to you. And the same with several...