Facing your own prejudices or broaching a generally taboo subject is the aim of Human Library events. The Cyprus branch has an event coming up in Nicosia. ELENI PHILIPPOU turns the page

Libraries are filled with stories and knowledge. Some of them, however, are filled with more than just books. In countries around the world, a different kind of library features at events where instead of checking out books, readers choose people whose stories they want to discover. In the Human Library, human beings serve as open books as a gateway into conversations people would not normally have access to.

The concept was born in Denmark in the year 2000 with the aim of hosting conversations to challenge stereotypes, stigmatisation and taboo topics. As interest grew, more countries adopted the initiative, creating international branches and since 2008 one in Cyprus has been hosting events all around the island. An inaugural event at Intercollege Limassol kickstarted a 15-year journey.

“We believe that through Human Library events, we give the opportunity to readers to break their stereotypes for different groups of people,” says librarian of Human Library Cyprus Iliana Petridou. As a non-profit organisation, a team of volunteers runs the library. “The volunteers have different roles,” explains Iliana, “librarians, dictionaries and of course, books. They are people from different backgrounds and what connects them is their dream for a more inclusive world.”

feature2In the world of the Human Library, some words have different meanings. Books refer to the people that readers can meet, librarians are the volunteers that connect visitors with the books they have chosen and dictionaries are other team members who help readers understand a book title.

On entering the Library, held at different spots each time, you find a list of book titles on a board. Typically, they represent groups of people who deal with prejudice or criticism because of their lifestyle, disability, belief, ethnic origin or social status. Over the years, the bookshelves of the Human Library have hosted books on LGBTQI+ issues, sex work, migration, gender issues and other stigmatised topics. You choose a book to read, without knowing which person it refers to and librarians take you to the book for a 20 to 30-minute discussion.

“The reader and the book have a safe space to talk and everything is confidential. Before starting the reading, we inform the readers that they should be respectful and return the book in the condition they found it.”

Each event, without a certain theme, offers readers the chance to engage in heart-to-heart conversations on a range of topics, from marginalised social groups or generally taboo topics. “Human books are selected if they have a story to tell that will actually help readers break their stereotypes for a specific group of people” adds Iliana. “Usually, we ask readers what kind of titles they would be interested in and then we try to find people that correspond to this title and would like to share their story.”

Books on alcoholism, feminism, body image issues, racism and religion have been featured and the public always seems to be curious and eager to read them. “Every year, we take part in the Youth Festival, organised by the Youth Board of Cyprus, and we also participate in different events in various universities and schools. Recently, we have also organised a Human Library event for parliament.” Beyond the local, physical events, the international organisation also hosts monthly online events available to readers worldwide.

For those of us in Cyprus, Human Library Cyprus will organise an event in Nicosia this month. On February 19, librarians, dictionaries and human books will head down to Babylon Bar for an evening of conversations. The upcoming event takes place within the framework of the European project ‘UP! Unleashing the power of youth work to counter online hate speech’. From 5.30pm to 7.30pm, the books will share life experiences and their stories and invite readers to a different kind of not-so-quiet library conversations.

“I believe that all of us have stereotypes,” concludes Iliana, “whether we acknowledge it or not. Taking part in a human library event can help us face our prejudices and deal with them. We will then have the chance to understand other people’s points of view and empathise with them. You are all welcome to come and join us in creating a better world for all.” An opportunity to ‘unjudge someone’ as the Human Library Organisation’s motto says is offered at each event. One page at a time.

Human Library Event

A library full of people event. February 19. Babylon Bar, Nicosia. 5.30pm-7.30pm. Free. Facebook page @HumanLibraryCyprus