Each of us is living our own story, and a new event Sunday at the Frankfort library will collect and share some of those living stories
Dubbed the Human Library, the event is modeled after the international Human Library Organization’s 17-year movement to bring together people who have experienced discrimination based on race, religion, sexual orientation, age, lifestyle or other inherent or chosen identities, according to its website. The “books” share their stories with others to help create dialogue and understanding among people.
The program is intended to “expand people’s horizons,” adult services librarian Lisa Moe Meierkort said.
“It seemed like it would be a good fit for Frankfort,” Moe Meierkort said. “I wanted to introduce people to some more diversity.”
She said guests at the event can expect “a wide range of human experience.”
Twelve volunteers, including a military veteran, a first-generation college student, a woman with paranoid schizophrenia, a Latina, a domestic violence survivor, a Muslim, a Jew, a recovering alcoholic and two people who are partially deaf, will share personal experiences of discrimination.
Guests will use a “card catalog” with descriptions of each volunteer and choose among them for 20-minute conversations, Moe Meierkort said.
Suggested questions will help get conversations started, but participants should feel free to “get to the heart of the book’s story rather quickly,” she said.
The volunteers may decline to answer if questions are off-topic, and the guests should “use common sense in asking their question,” she said
“I ask that participants come with an open mind and ready to learn.” Moe Meierkort said.
Moe Meierkort said she hopes Sunday’s event is the first of many Human Library events. Each session, she said, would have a different collection of books and create new opportunities to learn.
“Many people face adversity in their lives, but I feel that the point of the Human Library is to provide a conversation for people whose adversity has come because of stigma or discrimination against who they inherently are; their identity as a person of color, LGBTQ person, or having a mental or physical disability, among others,” Moe Meierkort said.
The “Human Library” will be from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 5 for high school ages and older. Advance registration is requested but not required. Register at www.frankfortlibrary.org or call 815-534-6173.
