Speaker A
Check this out. We're off to the library and a story from our Dr. John La Pook.
Explore the Human Library in Copenhagen where people share life stories to foster understanding and break stereotypes.
Key Takeaways
- Human Libraries use personal storytelling to challenge stereotypes and foster empathy.
- Mental health and refugee experiences are among the most sought-after topics.
- Volunteers share their stories in a safe, respectful environment with clear boundaries.
- The program has a global reach and is expanding to more locations.
- Understanding and acceptance can improve quality of life and social cohesion.
Summary
- The Human Library, founded 26 years ago by Ronni Abergel, loans people as 'books' to share their life experiences.
- Unlike traditional libraries, talking and curiosity-driven conversations are encouraged.
- Human Libraries exist in over 80 countries, including six in the U.S., with sessions typically lasting 30 minutes and offered for free.
- Popular topics include mental health issues such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism, anxiety, and depression.
- Christian Sana shares his experience living with schizophrenia and anxiety, challenging common misconceptions.
- Noura Bitar, a Syrian refugee and political scientist, discusses her struggles with stigma and trauma.
- Viva Olsen, an indigenous Greenlander, recounts her childhood and cultural heritage.
- The Human Library promotes empathy by encouraging people to understand others’ stories and break down prejudices.
- Volunteers serve as 'books' and set boundaries on topics they are comfortable discussing.
- The initiative is supported by private foundations and public donations, aiming to improve social acceptance and quality of life.
Chapters
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
While most libraries prefer that readers use their quiet voices, we just visited a library in Copenhagen where talking is actually encouraged.
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It's a library where we give out human beings on loan and they'll be an open book for you and answer any question you have about the topic that they're offering.
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Ronni Abergel founded the Human Library 26 years ago. To be clear, there are no physical books. The people are called books.
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All of our books are volunteers. And can you leave the premises with the person?
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No, you can't. The rules are really simple. Bring the book back on time and bring it back in the same condition.
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There are now human libraries in more than 80 countries including six in the United States with plans for more.
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Most readings take place at public libraries, schools, and universities and on the Human Library website. The 30-minute sessions are free.
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The most popular books are typically books on mental health, schizophrenia, bipolar, autism, anxiety, depression. All of these topics are almost global bestsellers.
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My goal was to take out three books. A lot of people assume that people with schizophrenia are either dangerous or helpless.
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That is definitely not the case. 33-year-old Christian Sana studied quantum physics in college and was diagnosed with anxiety and schizophrenia 13 years ago.
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That's when he came to believe he was always being watched and wondered if the world he inhabited was fake.
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A thought popped into my head. Maybe I'm fake. I might be a robot and everything I've experienced up until now is just false memories implanted into my head.
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So, in my psychotic mental state, I reached the conclusion via a robot or a hologram or something. Obviously, I don't have blood in my veins. I have [snorts] oil, wires, something. So, I go to the kitchen and pull out a knife. And it's
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worth mentioning at this point, this wasn't a large dramatic suicidal thing. It was two very measured neat cuts. I even disinfected the knife beforehand. I realized, okay, there's a bit of blood there. Cool. Obviously, I am human and
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the world around me is fake. Back to that theory. Sana took medication and started therapy and today is cherishing his family life.
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Right now, how are you feeling? I'm feeling good. We train every person to be an open book because the methodology is a little unique. This is not about me telling a long story to you. It's about your curiosity guiding the conversation. What
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do you want to know the most about my topic? The Human Library is supported by private foundations and public donations. And all the volumes, those sharing their life stories, are volunteers.
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You think that person is so different than you, but within half an hour you think, oh my God, I have a lot in common with that person.
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37-year-old Noura Bitar is a political scientist from Syria who came to Denmark with her Danish husband at the age of 20.
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How well did you speak Danish? Nothing. Nothing. I didn't speak a word of Danish.
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That was in March of 2011 when pro-democracy protests against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad led to a violent government crackdown and civil war.
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Over all these years, how have you been treated? Depends. For some people, I am the refugee. And I think I accepted that.
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Most of the people, especially in Copenhagen, were open about me. But I also heard a lot about like, you, you don't look like the typical refugee.
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What do they mean by that? So, I am very obviously confident, and proud and I speak English. I speak fluent Danish. I think there's that stigma like a refugee should always be sad. I shouldn't be dressed nicely.
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So, there's a stigma about dressing well and speaking well and being highly educated. In Denmark, immigration policies have become more restrictive and Bitar is still awaiting Danish citizenship. Now, after getting divorced, she looks forward to her second marriage but still
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struggles with her traumatic past. Do you ever dream of Syria? I do. When I first came, I always dreamed that I was a bride walking and there were gunshots in my wedding dress.
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It kind of like haunted me that I survived because I lost friends. I lost family members and I always felt like I have that survival guilt even until today. So, my PTSD was always picturing me as somebody who also got shot even in
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my wedding dress. So, I don't know. I'm still struggling every time I dream about Syria now, am I going to be sad?
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Is there any question that a book won't answer? Sure, every book has their boundaries. If you go beyond the boundaries of what they're comfortable talking about, they'll know to say to you, "I'm sorry, but those pages have not been published yet."
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I have never met anybody from Greenland before. 55-year-old Viva Olsen, an indigenous Greenlander, remembers a childhood in nature.
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It's been a very wonderful upbringing because the first thing you get to do when you're just an infant is to go out sailing and hunting.
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What did you hunt? We hunt reindeer. Wow. We hunt polar bears, birds, and uh fish and seals, lots of seals.
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Can you sing any like lullaby in Greenlandic or anything? Beda ouma, beda ouma, magi in, magi in, siana ouma. That's Brother Jack.
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She had no trouble moving to Denmark in 2009 as Greenland is a self-governing territory that's part of Denmark.
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Today, Olsen is an aide to patients in psychiatric units. Before President Trump expressed his desire to own Greenland, did people there pay any attention or much attention to President Trump?
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No, we'd always seen America as the land of milk and honey and friendly. Whose interest and presence in Greenland was benign.
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Olsen has happy memories of American soldiers stationed in her native country. They were well-loved. Santa Claus would come by chopper and he would bring us presents and it was basically the American soldiers who'd chipped in and bought a lot of
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presents for the kids. That was really sweet. How old were you when that happened?
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I was 6 years old. Because what happens when I'm not afraid of you and you have nothing to fear from me, our quality of life goes up.
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All of our life quality could go up if we were more understanding and accepting.
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Ronnie Abrahamsen says they have already reached millions and just maybe are changing lives reflecting the Human Library's goal to unjudge someone.
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We don't have to be best friends all of us here, but we need to try and understand each other.
Topics:Human Librarymental healthschizophreniarefugeesstorytellingempathyCopenhagenvolunteerssocial acceptanceCBS Sunday Morning
