The Human Library

The Human Library operates on a traditional library model, but instead of borrowing paper books, visitors check out 'human books' to learn directly from their lived experiences.

The Human Library is a worldwide initiative that has worked to promote social inclusion and community building with the intent to reduce biases of all kinds. Each human library seeks to be responsive to its own community by providing 30-minute interactions between living “Books” and “Readers.” It is a safe space for dialogue and personal conversation. Since 2000, Human Libraries have been helping people “unjudge” others through one-on-one interactions.

Volunteer participants will have the opportunity to play one of the following roles during the event:

• Human Books: individuals who belong to a group that has experienced stigma, stereotyping, or prejudices. These include but are not limited to ethnicity, disability, gender and sex, health, sexuality, neurodiversity, religion, and social status.
• Readers: participants who listen to and interact with the Book during the event.
• Librarians: facilitates the checkout of the Books by the readers during the event.

The CRC Human Library event is open to the whole campus community as well as to people from our local community.  Professors can bring their classes to participate in the event. Please contact peacock@crc.losrios.edu in advance for class-wide participation.