PEOPLE ON LOAN @ THE HUMAN LIBRARY
Thanks to funding from the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Community Foundation we’ve been able to continue delivering Human Library events for the past year.
During 2018, the Human Library has made appearances at the Lord Mayor’s Rural and Seaside Show in Southsea, the Hullabaloo Festival on the Isle of Wight, and the Hampshire Festival of the Mind keynote event at Portsmouth Cathedral.
In 2017, we organised another Human Library training session in Portsmouth and delivered Human Library events at the University of Southampton, Queen Alexandra Hospital, the IDEAs Conference at Fort Nelson and World Mental Health Day at the Friendship Centre in Portsmouth.
The Human Library is an innovative method designed to promote dialogue, reduce prejudices and encourage understanding. The main characteristics of the project are to be found in its simplicity and positive approach.
In its initial form the Human Library is a mobile library where visitors are given the opportunity to speak informally with ‘people on loan’; this latter group being extremely varied in age, sex and cultural background.
The Human Library enables groups to break down stereotypes by challenging the most common prejudices in a positive and humorous manner. it is a concrete, easily transferable and affordable way of promoting tolerance and understanding.
WANT TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HOW IT ALL STARTED?
The Human Library is an international equalities movement which promotes positive social change in over 60 countries.
At a Human Library ‘Books’ are people, and reading is a conversation.
Human Books are volunteers who share personal experience to challenge prejudice, stigma and discrimination.
Click here to find out more
Click here to hear Tales from the Human Library – recordings from local radio Express FM
Here is a list of previous Human Library events in Hampshire
Here are some of the titles chosen by our Human Books:
Ageism
Anorexia
Agoraphobia
Bi-polar disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder
Breast cancer
Bullied at Work
Coping with Retirement
Depression and anxiety
Ex-prostitute
Fibromyalgia
From Rehab to Peer Mentor
Gay single parent
Hearing Loss
Lesbian
Living with Hepatitis C
OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
Paranoid Schizophrenia
Post Natal Depression
Recovering addict
Transgender syndrome
Come and support us – take out a human Book and help beat stigma and discrimination, one conversation at a time.
INTERESTED IN JOINING THE HUMAN LIBRARY AS A VOLUNTEER?
If you’d like to get more involved in the project, as a Human Book or a Helper, you can come along to one of our public events, or send an email for more details.