Presented at LILAC 2017

1. A U G U S T A N A C A M P U S L I B R A R Y
Beyond Ordinary!
To learn
first-hand
about the
Human Books’
life experiences
‘Check out’
people called
Human Books
for an
hour of
conversation
People called
Readers
who want to
learn about
a specific
topic
WHY?WHAT?WHO?
“Conversation”photo by Benson Kua. Licensed under
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic. Used with permission.
www.library.ualberta.ca/augustana/infolit/humanlibrary
EMAIL: augustana.humanlibrary@ualberta.ca
• Miscarriage
• Gay male
• Baha’i faith
• Bipolar disorder
• Childhood sexual abuse
• Parent with mental illness
• Transgender person
• Afghan war vet
• Baha’i faith
• Funeral director
• Provincial Judge
• Bipolar disorder
• Atheist
• Deaf
• Visually impaired
• Escaping War
augustana human library
DESCRIPTION OF A HUMAN LIBRARY
SAMPLE HUMAN BOOK TOPICS

 


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









































 


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Augustana: News
http://www.augustana.ualberta.ca/whats_happening/news/?entry=479
Mar 23, 2009 10:11 am
Nothing beats agood book -
especially whenit talks back
A unique Living Library being held this week at the
University of Alberta’s Augustana Campus gives students,
staff and faculty a chance to check out a ‘living’ book
and have a conversation with a person who has personal
experience on topics that range from surviving sexual
abuse, to encountering racism in Canada, to pursuing a
university degree as an autistic student.The first face-to-face library was launched in Denmark
by human rights activists nine years ago, to promote
understanding and compassion among people of varying
races, genders, lifestyles and religions.Readers who want to learn about a certain topic meet
people who have volunteered to be living books, and
whose life experiences embody that subject. The human
‘book’ can answer tough questions and because of the
face-to-face contact, can help the reader examine biases
and stereotypes.
* The concept of a Living Library was first developed
by human rights activists in Denmark, as a new way
to address prejudice and stereotyping. The first Living
Library was held in Denmark in 2000.
* The Living Library concept has since spread around
the world to public libraries, community events and
university libraries.
* Augustana Campus, University of Alberta is only the
third post-secondary school in Canada to provide a Living
Library experience.
* Thirteen ‘living books’ are taking part in the event
which runs March 23 to 27, 2009 at Augustana Campus.
The many topics include sexual abuse, racism, autism
and surviving two world wars.* The concept of the Living Library falls closely in with
Augustana Campus’s mandate to challenge students
to consider life’s “hard” issues, think critically and
actively engage as citizens. The event will also increase
information literacy on campus through the seeking and
assessment of additional information as a result of the
conversations.
* The theme for Augustana’s Living Library is ‘Growing
with people, growing in community, growing our world.’
More information, as well as a list of book topics, is available at: www.augustana.ualberta.ca/library/infolit/livinglibrary/