Human Library
Volunteers become 'books' with a title that names an experience or identity people often hold assumptions about. Readers browse a catalogue, borrow a book for about thirty minutes, and have a one-to-one conversation in which they can ask any respectful question. It is a dialogue, not a talk.
Use at a conference or culture offsite when you want people to meet experiences across the organisation they would never otherwise sit down with.
Solves: Diversity sessions explain other people's experience in slides, and nobody actually talks to anybody.
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Step 1: Recruit and prepare 'books' with a short title and blurb each; brief them on boundaries (before the event).
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Step 2: Set up a catalogue table and a quiet reading area with pairs of chairs (before the event).
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Step 3: Readers browse the catalogue and sign out a book with a librarian (5 min).
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Step 4: Book and reader talk one-to-one for about thirty minutes; the reader leads with questions (30 min).
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Step 5: The reader returns the book and may borrow another (repeat across the session).
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Step 6: Close with a short debrief for books, separately from readers (15 min).
- Prepare books carefully. They need to know they can decline any question and end a loan.
- Titles should name a stereotype or experience plainly, such as 'Refugee' or 'Late-diagnosed autistic', so readers know what they can ask about.
- Check the Human Library Organisation's terms before you use the name for an official event.
- Internal bookshelf: colleagues as books, titled by work experiences, such as 'Was made redundant twice'.