The free event forms part of the capital’s three-day Festival of Migration and will see members of the public encouraged to “grab a cuppa” and borrow a human ‘book’ from a selection of ‘titles’.
“It’s a radical concept because it is both deeply profound and incredibly simple,” said Katy Jon Went, UK coordinator of the Human Library project. “People can come along, and they each get an intimate conversation with a book for half an hour.”
The aim is to confront prejudice, discrimination and stereotypes but also to give the people borrowing the books the opportunity to ask questions they may otherwise not for fear of causing offence.
“We allow readers to phrase the question in a way they’re comfortable with or which is drawn from their curiosity or their fear or their ignorance,” added Ms Went. “You don’t have to have the language right to ask a question. Obviously we ask people to be courteous and polite. Other than that people can ask any questions. If the book’s not comfortable they’ll let you know gently.”
At least half of the eight books taking part in the Edinburgh project have direct experience of migration. However it may not be the explicit subject on their ‘cover’, only indirectly related to it.
“We want to reinvigorate that childlike curiosity, where a child in a supermarket says: ‘Why has that person got a mark on their face, or why has that person got no legs?” said Ms Went. “You can ask someone in at the Human Library, particularly with a migration project: ‘Where are you from?’”.
As well as the books themselves there are ‘librarians’ present who keep the event safe and who look after the books, checking in with them before and after every ‘reading.’
Potential books are recruited either through advertising on social media or simply by word of mouth. Ms Went met a homeless person in Edinburgh who said they wanted to be a book, as did a fellow passenger she encountered recently on a flight from Amsterdam. She herself joined the organisation as a book herself with titles relating to her experience of being transgender, bipolar and a suicide survivor. “Those are the kinds of topics you can talk to somebody about in the Human Library.”
There is a vetting process for prospective books and training is given to ensure they can share their experiences without being retraumatised by them.
“Also to make sure all the books are able to hold a conversation with a stranger without taking offence. That’s one of the things which marks us out as different in this current world – if you ask a trans person in the Human Library or a Jewish or Muslim person, they’re not going to take offence at the question you ask.
“The books are not activists. They are resources for the general public to be able to explore.”
The Human Library has been operating in the UK since 2009 but the movement was founded in Denmark as the Human Library Organisation (HLO) in 2000 by Ronni Abergel, his brother Dany, Asma Mouna and Christoffer Erichsen. The four were colleagues at a Danish NGO aimed at violence reduction amongst young people.
Using the slogan ‘Unjudge Someone’, an inaugural event featuring 50 titles was held at the Roskilde rock festival. Over the course of four days it was attended by over 1000 readers. Today the HLO is still headquartered in Copenhagen but has partner organisations in some 70 countries worldwide as well as a permanent Human Library in the town of Lismore in Australia.
The Festival of Migration is organised by the Art 27 Scotland collective and will run at the Southside Community Centre in Edinburgh between June 16 and June 18.
Among the other events planned are panel discussions on the theme of migration, music and theatre performances, a paper cutting workshop inspired by Polish folklore and an address by keynote speaker Alexandra Xanthaki, a UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights.