Living books

Imagine a walking, talking, living book, someone representative of a group of people that you may have prejudices about, that you may have stereotyped, that you may be curious about. Imagine being able to 'borrow' this Living Book for a couple of hours, during which you may talk to the book and ask any questions, with a view to understanding what the book is all about.

That's the idea behind the Human Library, initiated in 2000 by five Danish youths as an activity to encourage dialogue and build relations at a summer festival. At the festival, the 'books' wore t-shirts and readers were given library cards that allowed them to take out three books during the event. Posters were put up as teasers, such as: 

The text in the lower right corner means: Borrow a person you normally think you would not like. We have a wide selection of unpopular stereotypes. Everything from gays to hip-hoppers to immigrants. Take a walk, have a talk, or don't. Just remember to give back the person within two hours.

The Human Library has since grown into a worldwide movement to break stereotypes by "challenging the most common prejudices in a positive and humorous manner." The Human Library is a free service and the Living Books are volunteers, people who are subjected to stereotyping and prejudices, who are open about and willing to share their experiences. A Living Book can be someone who is physically challenged, a cancer survivor, a police officer, an elderly person. To me, it may be anyone with a story to tell. 

The Human Library can adapt to any setting. In Denmark, for example, parliamentarians were offered Living Books to borrow so that they could understand the situation in regard to minorities in the country. Public libraries, festivals, schools and book fairs are other places suitable for the Human Library. In 2011, the Human Library was active in the United Kingdom, Canada, Greece, USA, Italy, South Korea, Romania, Switzerland, Cyprus, Romania, and even Russia. 

So... what about Malaysia?