Human Library Norfolk

The official Human Library finally arrived in the UK on April 20th 2008, when an event was staged at Swiss Cottage public library in London. Among the titles available were Homosexual, Male Nanny, Muslim, Police Officer, Ex-gang Member, Refugee and Homeless Man, who proved to be the most loaned book at the event. A second event followed just a month later at the Idea Store in London´s Whitechapel, both events were organized by the Human Library Organization as part of an introduction project to the United Kingdom. The Human Library was launched in the UK with support from the Nordic Minister Council and the success of the first two events helped get the idea off to a good start.

History

One of the books in the Whitechapel Human Library event was Norfolk-based author and activist Robert Ashton, who had the intriguing title ‘Body Donor’ in his time as a living book. Robert had previously set up a campaign called Stuff Stigma!, in response to negative national media coverage of an anti-stigma campaign, run by mental health charity Rethink in Norwich. He thought that the Human Library would be an ideal vehicle for encouraging understanding and challenging prejudice in Norfolk and so brought the idea home with him. The task of organising the Human Library in Norfolk was taken up by Oz Osborne, the newly installed manager of the Big Lottery Funded Stuff Stigma! project and Rosanna Wynn-Williams, a Community Service Volunteer based at BBC Radio Norfolk.

Although a venue, the Forum, had been booked for October 8th as part of World Mental Health Week, the first Human Library in Norfolk took place a week earlier on October 1st at City College in Norwich; this made it the very first Human Library in an educational setting in the UK. A small selection of books, mostly representing mental health issues were borrowed by more than a hundred students in 4 hours. The event was covered by local press and featured nationally on Radio 4’s Learning Curve programme, indicating a growing interest in the concept across the UK.

First major event in Norfolk

The Human Library on the 8th October 2008 was run as part of Rethink’s Stuff Stigma! project, which is affiliated to the national Time to Change campaign to end mental health discrimination. The organising team had grown to three with Nick Little from Norwich Millennium Library joining Oz Osborne and Rosanna Wynn-Williams; Nick was able to ensure that the event ran as similarly to a regular library as possible. This Human Library proved enormously successful, with more than 20 books borrowed by over 100 readers and a total of nearly 300 loans taking place in all. As well as local media attention, there were journalists and film crews from Japan and Korea, where Living Libraries were planned for later in the year; the concept has now been rolled out in 25 countries. The third Norfolk Human Library was held as part of the community arts charity Seachange’s ‘Out There’ international arts festival in the marketplace in Great Yarmouth. This was a smaller event both in terms of the number of books and readers but was still a successful and powerful experience and proved that the Human Library is a flexible concept that can be adapted to a variety of community settings.

Future Plans

As of the end of February 2009, there have been 5 Living Libraries in Norfolk, making the county the most prolific site in the UK for running these events and the Norfolk organising team is in regular contact with the Human Library founders in Denmark; there is a shared vision of seeing the Human Library become a common occurrence throughout the UK. There are plans for the first Human Library at a UK festival, which the organisers see as a return to the spiritual home of the concept, along with a series of themed events promoting community cohesion.

If you need advise or experts to aid you in staging a Human Library, dont hesitate to contact us.

For more information contact: Oz Osborne

History of events for Human Library Norfolk

1st October 2008 – City College, Norwich (1st ever Human Library in a UK educational establishment)

8th October 2008 – The Forum, Norwich (World Mental Health Week)

31st October 2008 – Great Yarmouth (Out There international arts festival)

10th February 2009 – City College, Norwich (Anti-bullying Week)

17th February 2009 – The Forum, Norwich (Time to Change Campaign Launch)

11th March 2009 – University of East Anglia (Wellbeing Fair – 1st Living Library at a UK University)