Due to overwhelmingly positive feedback, Butler Library at Buffalo State is planning to hold its third Living Library event as part of the Anne Frank Project's Social Justice Festival on Thursday, October 3 from 10:15 am to 12:00 p.m. and we are looking for volunteers to serve as human "books."
What is the Living Library?
- The Living Library is a relatively new community-building program designed to provide opportunities for conversation and connection among people from different walks of life.
- People register to serve as human "books" and participants attend the event as "readers" and are able to engage with the human books through open, honest conversation.
- Human books generally have a story to tell and an experience that might be outside of the mainstream.
- Typically, a person chooses to be a book because they believe that their story can affect another person's understanding of a certain culture, subculture, or identity.
- Most human books have experienced some form of prejudice and/or discrimination because of their identity or part of their identity.
- Examples of past human books include: alcoholic, disability rights advocate, refugee, Wiccan, Paralympic athlete, pageant queen, and more.
Should I be a book?
- Human books would need to be comfortable having a frank discussion with students and community members about their life.
- These conversations allow the human books to share their stories and dispel stereotypes about their experience while allowing readers to engage deeply with a viewpoint they may be unfamiliar with.
If you are interested and available to participate, please email Katie Bertel at bertelks@buffalostate.edu. We’ll provide a brief orientation before the event, and human books will be able to provide suggested questions to readers.
