Pick a live stereotype at the library

Welcome to the Living Library. Here, you borrow individuals who represent stereotypes that often are the target of prejudice or hatred.  (Christian Science Monitor)  This is crazy...

London - It works like a conventional library. Tables and chairs are set out for study. Librarians bustle purposefully, staffing the checkout desk.

Except these aren't books on loan. They're people.  [snip]

At this east London library on a recent Saturday, there were 26 "books" available, including a Muslim, an immigrant, a transgender individual, a witch, and an Indian atheist.

Readers borrow them for half an hour, hear their narrative, question them, even pry a little, and – so the theory goes – break down some of their preconceptions and stop "judging the book by the cover."

The idea is the brainchild of Ronni Abergel, a Danish antiviolence campaigner, who has taken the Living Library to 12 countries and watched it flourish in places as diverse as Australia and Turkey.

"We live in a time where we need dialogue," says Mr.

Abergel. "With dialogue comes understanding and with that comes tolerance and that's the mission of the Living Library: to promote understanding and tolerance through dialogue."

There is certainly plenty of dialogue at this London venue.  [snip]

All of the "books" are unpaid volunteers, as are the organizers, recruited for the event.

These 'human stereotype' libraries are up and running in Britain, Turkey, Australia, Hungary, Germany,  Austria, to name six.  These libraries are in 12 countries today, with the United States up next.  Oh joy.

Comments

[Angel]

o gosh Deb..hadnt heard about this at all...what next eh!!!..lets all hold hands and sing kumbaya with terrorists!

[MK]

it's in Australia? never heard of this crock. I don't get it, are there mobs of angry people running around beating up Muslims, immigrants, transgender individuals, witches, and Indian atheists.

What would have been a good idea would be to have these folks go and speak to the indigenous people, like the white folks in Britain. Perhaps not the witches and transgenders but the Muslims and Indian atheists could probably do with a chat to a British person.

After all they're coming to the British peoples land so shouldn't they be integrating, this seems to be the other way round, you go and talk to all these 'different' people so you can learn to accept them.

Sounds like another stupid leftist idea. Holding hands and singing kumbaya will be next Angel, just you watch. You see you have to accept all others, or else.

[Steve Harkonnen]

"With dialogue comes understanding and with that comes tolerance and that's the mission of the Living Library: to promote understanding and tolerance through dialogue."

I'd like to see him tell that to the Taliban.

[ortho]

This is a great idea. I would check-out a fundamentalist Christian and ask him/her the role Israel and its citizens will play in the arrival of some magical messiah.

[Skunkfeathers]

There might be some value to such a 'living library', if you stock it with an Al Qaida terrorist, a Hamas terrorist, a Hezbollah terrorist, a fundamentalist Imam who's calling for infidel eradication, a 'think like Hugo Chavez' leftist, a serial killer, an MS-13 thug, an ELF terrorist....then you'd get to see the 'dark side' that the anti-stereotypers don't want one to consider.

Of course, we'll never see it, because (a) the progressives and liberals don't want you to think about the dark side of their faith, and (b) one of the terrorists couldn't resist showing up with a satchel charge, to get a bunch of infidels and their 72 virgins at the same time...

[Debbie]

This is nothing but PC crap. Does anyone really think any stereotypes will be changed here? I don't, because the "human books" will be trained in what to say, how to say it.

A silly idea that is costing taxpayers (probably, I don't really know where the funding is coming from).

[Zee]

Can I just say "Gag me". Makes me glad I'm anti-social by nature.