SECOND ANNUAL COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROJECT
by Stop the Violence (Copenhagen)
Curated by Dave Deveau
Presented with Vancouver Public Library and The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival
January 18, 19, 25, 26, February 1, 2, 2014
VPL Central Branch
Free Event
Enter the Vancouver Public Library’s Central Branch and head up to the third floor where a special circulation desk will register you with your own Human Library card and offer to lend you one of thirty possible human books. In choosing from titles like “Invisibly Disabled” and “In Polygamy’s Shadow” you’ll sign one out and be connected to the person behind that title. A one-on-one, twenty minute informal conversation will begin and the rest is up to you.
By connecting people who under normal circumstances might not have had a chance to sit down and talk, the library enables groups to break stereotypes by challenging common prejudices in a positive and humorous manner.
Human Library was started by a group of five individuals who founded the organization Stop The Violence after a brutal attack on a mutual friend. The first Human Library was held in Denmark in 2000 and the concept has since gained huge popularity and momentum. Over the past twelve years in over sixty-five countries, thousands of “human books” have connected with “readers” of all walks of life.