Hey Eclectic Spacewalkers,
This month I traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark to speak to Ronni Abergel, Founder & CEO of the Human Library Organization (HLO), and also to document one of their events during Copenhagen’s Culture Night on October 11th, 2019.
“Menneskebiblioteket” as it is called in Danish, was created in Copenhagen in the spring of 2000 by Ronni and a few others. HLO has grown significantly since their humble beginnings and now operate events in over 80 countries.
“The Human Library® is, in the true sense of the word, a library of people. We host events where readers can borrow human beings serving as open books and have conversations they would not normally have access to. Every human book from our bookshelf, represent a group in our society that is often subjected to prejudice, stigmatization or discrimination because of their lifestyle, diagnosis, belief, disability, social status, ethnic origin etc.”
HLO meets their goals by, “creating a special dialogue room, where taboo topics can be discussed openly and without condemnation. A place where people who would otherwise never talk find room for conversation…a place where difficult questions are expected, appreciated and answered.”
“Un-judge Someone!” is upgraded from “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover”
The improved statement honestly presupposes our biological judgements (based on evolution & survival techniques) of others, but - critically - allows us to consciously rise above them.
Ronni and I had a fantastic conversation about the journey of HLO, growing pain key learnings, as well as future plans of expansion. Our conversation also got into the natural mechanics of judgement, identity, and community. I thank Ronni for his time, and the wonderful discussion we had.
Enjoy the conversation, and until next time - Ad Astra!
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Human Library' Website: https://humanlibrary.org/
Human Library’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheHumanLibrary
Human Library’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/humanlibraryorg
