We don’t have time on the street to stop and get to know everyone, so we drop people in little boxes… so it’s instinct that’s guiding us, and we never get beyond the instinct if we don’t get to know the person… so in our library, we recommend sitting down and meeting some of the people that you normally might actually not feel interested in sitting down with because there’s something about them that you may feel a little bit uncomfortable about. Here he is telling BBC World Service programme People Fixing the World about the inspiration behind his original idea: The first Human Library was founded in Copenhagen by Ronni Abergel. OK, Sam, we’ll find out if that’s right later in the programme. Well, everyone likes to hear a story – so I‘ll guess, c) 95. So how many countries have a Human Library now? Is it: The Human Library started out in Denmark but soon spread across Europe and the world. It’s a fascinating idea but before we find out more, I have a question for you, Sam. This means the Human Library needs to be a safe space – a place where people feel protected from danger and harm. The human books are volunteers, and visiting readers are encouraged to ask those awkward or embarrassing questions they’ve always wondered about. The book titles are short and to the point - titles like ‘transgender’, ‘former criminal’ or ‘immigrant’. Readers may borrow these ‘books’, who are people from all walks of life, for a thirty minute conversation. It’s called The Human Library and the ‘books’ are individuals who have faced prejudice – which means an unreasonable dislike of certain types of people. In this 6 Minute English, we’ll be hearing about an unusual library where the books are people, made of flesh and bone instead of paper.
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If you browse through a library, you’ll find a variety of different books, from fiction to crime to romance.Īnd if you walk through a city you’ll see a variety of people of different ages, body shapes, skin colours and genders. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript Many different types of people being included together Transcript Judge what kind of person someone is based on their appearance or a limited understanding of themįeel slightly worried or embarrassed, not relaxed, in a social situationīeing very careful about what you do and say because you don’t want to upset or offend anyone
Place where you feel protected from danger and harm Unfair and unreasonable dislike of a particular group of people Listen to the programme to find out the answer. So how many countries have a Human Library now? That's what Neil and Sam discuss, as they teach you related vocabulary. You borrow a person you wouldn’t usually meet for a half-hour candid conversation and learn what it is like to be in their shoes. That's the idea behind an initiative to create a 'human library'.
We learn a lot from books and from talking to people.