Tel Aviv: Imagine a library where you can borrow the humans instead of books with the subject of your interest, Well there is an actual library like that.
This unique idea was conceptualised in Denmark in 2000 by Ronni Abergel and has since spread to over 70 countries including US, Poland, Canada, Ukraine, Italy.
Soon the branches will also be opened in countries like South Africa,Israel,Sudan by year end.
For instance, you want to read on autism or on what's life of a Syrian refugee, you can borrow an autistic person or a refugee, ask questions and even discuss the subject in detail with that person — holding a two-way dialogue.
The biggest resource needed to facilitate this is time and idle hands to do the tasks. Due to this great quality it has been possible to stage events in a wide range of countries and with very little funding.
Users can have an allotted time of interaction with their selection of a certain person including refugees, obese people and transgenders. This unique concept began in Denmark in 2000 and has since spread to over 70 countries.
“The Human Library is a place where real people are on loan to readers. A place where difficult questions are expected, appreciated and answered,” explains the website.
This is a place where you can find a soldier suffering from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), an unemployed person, someone who is homeless, a deafblind person, people who are brain-damaged, suffer from alcoholism, or are polyamorous, even a young single mother… the list is exhaustive. Imagine living the pages of a crisp book in real life and not just being a mute bystander.
