The 30th augustana human library runs on Sunday, May 5 from 1-3 p.m. MDT. The 30th human library is a hybrid event — the flexibility of the virtual context allows human books and readers alike from all over the world to participate! We invite you to register for the event – join us online or in-person.
All 30 augustana human library events have one purpose in mind: to further the development and expression of empathy. Humans facing their prejudice is a difficult task but when individuals have been willing to listen with open ears and hearts, their perspectives, attitudes and behaviours are forever changed. Through the many years of the augustana human library, more than 150 people have been “human books” sharing their stories of lived experiences of prejudice, harassment or discrimination (or, sometimes, unique life experiences).
Some augustana human library “fun facts:”
- In 2011, during Augustana’s Centenary, 110 opportunities were provided over 6 days for people to “take out” a human book
- When Augustana Faculty had “theme years” where all disciplines tried to incorporate the same theme somewhere into their teaching, a “gender and sexuality” human library was held. It was a great way to share understanding on these topics!
- To celebrate the 15th augustana human library, “Dancing Under the Sun” from New Zealand visited the campus for a week speaking about intersex and how it relates to Physical Education, Psychology, English, Political Studies and more!
- “The Cross in the Closet ” kicked off the 16th augustana human library by sharing his journey, as a cisgender man, of immersing himself in the gay community for one year (presenting himself as a gay man). The result was he shifted from a position of judgement and disdain to acceptance, love, and advocacy for the LGBTQIA2+ community.
- The 20th event welcomed to the campus a young Syrian man who became separated from his school, his freedom, his family and friends, his home and his country as a result of the Syrian revolution that started in 2011. He shared his incredible journey to Canada with many classes and student groups. He now owns an art gallery in Alberta and is flourishing as a Canadian citizen.
- The pandemic forced the 25th human library to take place over zoom — it initially felt disingenuous to take these intimate, small gatherings to a distant, screen-based, virtual environment. However, it quickly became clear that while some of that intimacy was lost, what was gained was the ability for human books and readers from a distance to participate more easily. Four amazing human books shared their stories of grief, facing death, overcoming sexual assault, and life after drug addiction and prison to an online crowd of a few hundred.
Over the years, the augustana human library has been recognized with a number of awards:
- University of Alberta’s Equity, Diversity, Inclusion (EDI) Award, Awarded at the EDI Awards Breakfast, Edmonton, March 18, 2019.
- American Library Association’s Presidential Citation for Innovative International Library Projects, Awarded at the American Library Association Conference, Chicago, IL, June 26, 2017
- Association of College and Research Libraries’ Women and Gender Studies Section Significant Achievement Award, Awarded at the American Library Association Conference, San Francisco, CA, June 29, 2015
The Augustana librarians have had many presentation and publication opportunities because of research associated with the human library. Over the years, we have engaged human books and readers in sharing their experiences in order to better understand the impact of the human library.
Many thanks to the human books, readers, and amazing Augustana Library staff who, together, make the augustana human library! Key staff to highlight, both past and present, for their incredible contributions: Sarah Barriage, Cindy McKay, Bill Harder, Melanie Kuntz, Mark Fulton, and, most significantly, Tanya Pattullo and Kara Blizzard.
Thank you Nancy Goebel, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Librarian for authoring this post.
This content is licensed under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Creative Commons licence.