The Human Library Handbook: how to organise a Human Library with young people and local communities

Aims of the tool

To give youth workers, teachers, librarians and community organisers everything they need to run their own Human Library: a clear explanation of the method, a step by step guide to preparing and running an event, and ready to use materials.
To challenge stereotypes and prejudice through safe, structured, one to one conversations, so that a real person replaces a stereotype.
To empower young people to share their own stories and to develop listening, empathy and storytelling skills.

Description of the tool

In a Human Library the books are people. Readers choose a title from a catalogue and borrow a person for a conversation of twenty to thirty minutes, in which the book decides what to share. This handbook is the legacy of Eurolibrary, an Erasmus+ project in which young people from Bulgaria, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain travelled by train, on foot, by bike, by ferry and by campervan, and ran twenty Human Libraries in squares, schools, cafés, museums, trains and ferries.

The handbook is organised in four parts, and you can start wherever you need:

Understand: what a Human Library is and is not, the five roles (books, readers, librarians, dictionaries, promoters), the three spaces, the eight steps of a loan, the six rules of the library, and safety, ethics and inclusion.
Prepare: defining the purpose and format, choosing and setting up the venue, recruiting and training the books (a two hour training and a four part story structure), writing the catalogue, preparing the team and bringing in readers. It also describes the Eurolibrary model for a multi day travelling exchange.
Run: a run of show for a three hour library, roles on the day, what to do when things go wrong, and a facilitation toolkit with ice breakers, group agreements, reflection groups and debrief questions.
Evaluate and share: what to measure and how, turning stories into a podcast, ten lessons learned and an FAQ.

Seventeen annexes can be printed or adapted: planning checklist, event run sheet, call for books, book profile form, review worksheet, training agenda, catalogue template, welcome script, group agreements, reader registration card, loan record, feedback and debrief forms, consent templates, risk matrix, budget checklist and promotion kit.

Learning outcomes: participants develop active listening, empathy, storytelling and intercultural communication skills, and become aware of their own stereotypes. Organisers gain the competences to plan, facilitate and evaluate a safe Human Library in public spaces, schools or on the move.