Hyderabad: A few years ago, Hyderabadis were intrigued by the idea of being able to talk to books, instead of reading them, at the Human Library Hyderabad.
The one-of-its-kind organization gathered much attention soon after its launch in 2017. Having hosted several events around the cities and introducing several ‘human books’ to people, Harshad Fad, the founder of Human Library Hyderabad, has now decided to take the project into masses, especially those in villages.
The organisation, which is now called Library of Diversity, is attempting to connect rural people, their lives, cultures, professions and problems to those living in big cities.
Explains Harshad: “Several people liked the Human Library, but I felt that it can be explored further. The titles (of the human books) were restricted to just the urban setting. The pandemic gave us some time to think about what more could be done. Since the Human Library organisation has certain rules and regulations to follow, I decided it was time we started our own organisation.” And thus, the Library of Diversity was born.
While the organisation will still be having similar events to the ones Human Library held, every month they will host an event in a village. And the first outstation event will be held in the weavers’ town of Pochampally, famous globally for its namesake sarees. “The weaving community is often neglected, and we wanted to bring forth their stories,” shares Harshad.
The organisation is not only planning to host the event in Pochampally village but also making arrangements for participants for an overnight stay there. Meghana Reddy, who has been associated with the Human Library over the years, is overseeing the arrangements for the event. “We want the participants to experience these people’s lives for at least one day. We are in the process of talking to people who are ready to share their stories. Once we zero in on three-four human books, we will have to train them a bit on public speaking,” says Meghana.
The event, which will be a pilot project for the organisation, will be organised in the next few weeks.
That’s not all. An avid traveller himself, Harshad is working on taking the organisation to various cities, towns and villages across the country. “The idea is to promote smaller cities and towns. People should experience staying there. As of now, we are planning an event for McLeod Ganj in Himachal Pradesh, Dharavi in Mumbai and a few other places. Once the Covid-19 guidelines ease a bit, we will go full throttle.”
Origin of human libraries
The concept of the Human Library — Menneskebiblioteket — was developed in Copenhagen, capital of Denmark, by Ronni Abergel, along with his brother and colleagues — all part of a youth movement — Stop the Violence. The attempt was to utilise ‘human books’ to challenge stereotypes and motivate people to understand and empathise better through shared stories. The original event in Copenhagen in 2000 was held over two days and featured 50 titles. The movement has spread to over 70 countries and even led to the formation of a permanent library in Australia.
How it works
During the event, readers are asked to check a catalogue and pick a title (shared earlier on social media pages). Each human book could be checked out for 20 minutes, and readers are encouraged to ask questions and have an intimate conversation with their books.
Human book
A human book is a person who volunteers to represent a stigmatised group in the community and based on his/her personal experiences, can answer questions from readers to help them understand the issues being faced by the volunteer better.
