What's On at the Library

On Saturday, October 20, Toronto Public Library will host our 3rd annual Human Library program at Toronto Reference Library, North York Central Library and Parkdale Branch.

Customers will once again be able to borrow a human book for a one-on-one, half hour conversation inside the library. This year's collection of human books include police officers, war veterans, journalists, and entrepreneurs who will share their stories of building their business.

Customers can now place a hold on a human book by visiting or calling the branch.

In the two years that the library has held this program, customers told us they thought it was unique and wanted to know how we came up with it.

The idea for the Human Library actually originated in Copenhagen, Denmark. A youth organization called "Stop The Violence" was initiatied by five youth after a mutual friend was stabbed. The friend survived and the incident made the five people decide to raise awareness and mobilize youth against violence.

In 2000, Stop The Violence was encouraged to organize activities for a local music festival, that would focus on anti-violence, encourage dialogue and build relations among the festival visitors. And the Human Library was born.

A poster from the first program - from HumanLibrary.org - can be seen on the left.

Today, the program has been adapted in over 30 countries around the world.

In Spring 2010, Toronto Public Library began work to adapt the program and our first-ever Human Library program was held on Saturday, November 6, 2010.

In the spirit of the original Human Library, the TPL program invited Torontonians to step into another person's shoes by borrowing them for a one-on-one conversation inside the library. The first collection included individuals who were formerly homeless, who lived with a disability, and those who contributed to Toronto's culture scene.

In the pilot year, we had nearly 200 checkouts (i.e. one-on-one conversations). We didn't know what to expect, but were delighted by the positive feedback from borrowers - which included:

• “I was in tears at the end because my conversation touched me so deeply.”
• "I didn’t really know what to expect but it was certainly a wonderful experience.”
• “The time was just about long enough although my book let the conversation go on longer because we were both learning so much from each other. This was a fascinating opportunity.”

The program returned with a brand new collection in 2011; a mini-documentary of last year's program can be viewed in the video below.

The library looks forward to hosting the third edition of the Human Library next weekend and we hope you will join us!