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Redwood City: Library takes novel approach to breaking stereotypes

Patrons will be able to check out ‘human books’ for conversations in one-day experiment

A community conversation on affordable housing takes place inside the upstairs community room April 11 inside the downtown branch of the Redwood City Public Library. The library will hold a different kind of community conversation Sept. 22 when it hosts a Human Library experiment inside the community room. (Redwood City Public Library)
A community conversation on affordable housing takes place inside the upstairs community room April 11 inside the downtown branch of the Redwood City Public Library. The library will hold a different kind of community conversation Sept. 22 when it hosts a Human Library experiment inside the community room. (Redwood City Public Library)
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Speaking directly with people from different backgrounds is one way to challenge — and possibly overcome — stereotypes.

So the Redwood City Public Library is embarking on a novel one-day experiment this fall to make that happen. It will lend out roughly two dozen so-called “human books” to patrons for face-to-face conversations. The books may feature transgender people, disabled veterans, recovering drug addicts and other people who tend to be marginalized, according to the library.

The conversations will take place during morning and afternoon sessions on Sept. 22 in the large upstairs community room at the downtown branch. The aim is for community members to confront their prejudices head-on.

“Our intention is to provide opportunities for dialogue and getting to know people on a different level,” said Derek Wolfgram, Redwood City library director. “It’s really an invitation for people to get to know their fellow community members. … It’s easy to demean someone when you don’t know anyone like them.”

The experiment, The Human Library, was developed in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2000, as an outgrowth of a youth organization called Stop the Violence. Stop the Violence was founded by a group of Copenhagen teens to raise awareness about a rise in violence against immigrants, particularly teens, after one of their peers was stabbed to death in 1993.

Wolfgram said the library decided to make the Human Library part of its ongoing Community Conversations series to celebrate Redwood City’s diversity and the aspiration of the city to be a welcoming and inclusive place.

“There is no one picture of what a homeless person is, or a Muslim,” he said. “(The Human Library) is almost kind of an antidote to the online world, where people just say whatever they want because they’ll never come face to face with the human being they are putting down.”

Before the event, patrons will be able to sign up for 15- to 20-minute conversations with people using “human books” of their choice. Anyone interested in being part of the Human Library or learning more about the event is asked to email librarian Jenny Barnes at jbarnes@redwoodcity.org.

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