It works like a conventional library. Tables and chairs are set out for study. Librarians bustle purposefully, staffing the checkout desk. Except these aren’t books on loan. They’re people. Welcome to the Living Library. Here, you borrow individuals who represent stereotypes that often are the target of prejudice or hatred.
At this east London library on a recent Saturday, there were 26 “books” available, including a Muslim, an immigrant, a transgender individual, a witch and an Indian atheist. Readers borrow them for half an hour, hear their narrative, question them, even pry a little, and — so the theory goes — break down some of their preconceptions and stop “judging the book by the cover.” More
Sphere: Related Content