The Human Library - 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 Minute English

from BBC Learning English.

I'm Neil.

And I'm Sam.

If you browse through a library,

you'll find a variety of

different books, from fiction

to crime to romance.

And if you walk through a city

you'll see a variety of people

of different ages, body shapes,

skin colours and genders.

In this 6 Minute English, we'll

be hearing about an unusual

library where the books are

people, made of flesh and bone

instead of paper. It's called

The Human Library and the 'books'

are individuals who have faced

prejudice - which means an

unreasonable dislike of

certain types of people.

Readers may borrow these 'books',

who are people from all walks of

life, for a thirty minute conversation.

The book titles are short and to the

point - titles like 'transgender',

'former criminal' or 'immigrant'.

The human books are volunteers,

and visiting readers are encouraged

to ask those awkward or embarrassing

questions they've always

wondered about.

This means the Human Library

needs to be a safe space - a place

where people feel protected

from danger and harm.

It's a fascinating idea but before

we find out more, I have a question

for you, Sam. The Human Library

started out in Denmark but

soon spread across Europe

and the world.

So how many countries

have a

Human Library now? Is it:

a) 75?, b) 85? or, c) 95?

Well, everyone likes to hear

a story - so I'll guess c) 95.

OK, Sam, we'll find out if that's

right later in the programme.

The first Human Library was

founded in Copenhagen

by Ronni Abergel.

Here he is telling BBC World Service

programme People Fixing the World

about the inspiration behind

his original idea.

We don't have time on the street

to stop and get

to know everyone,

so we drop people in little

boxes... so it's instinct that's

guiding us, and we never get

beyond the instinct

if we don't

get to know the person...

so in our library, we

recommend sitting down

and meeting some

of the people

that you normally might

actually not feel interested in

sitting down with because

there's something about them

that you may feel a little bit

uncomfortable about. You learn

tremendously not only about

them, but also about yourself.

When we meet someone new,

we often already have ideas

about what they are like.

Ronni says we put someone

in a box - an expression

meaning to judge what kind

of person someone is based

on their appearance or on

a limited understanding

of who they are.

He recommends meeting people

who you wouldn't usually

spend time with, even if

this makes you feel

uncomfortable - feel slightly

worried or embarrassed

in a social situation.

So the main idea of the

Human Library is to

challenge the assumptions

and stereotypes that

we all have about other people.

Ronni uses social media to

find volunteers who are

willing to talk about their

lives at public meetings,

which anyone can attend.

As the Human Library spreads

around the world, more money

is needed to keep the

project going. This mostly

comes from hosting events

for private companies,

including famous businesses

like Google.

Transgender volunteer

Katy Jon Went is a regular

host for the Human Library's

business events. Listen to

this clip of her introducing

the project to a group of

Dutch businessmen from

BBC World Service programme,

People Fixing the World.

When we're in the workplace

or on social media, what we

often find is we re walking

on eggshells around

diversity and difference,

and many people don't

want to get it wrong,

quite understandably.

The important thing to

remember is that you can

ask them anything - they're

never going to make to

feel wrong for the question

you ask today, which is an

incredibly rare offer.

When meeting someone with

completely different life

experiences, people can be

worried about saying the

wrong thing or asking

embarrassing questions.

Katy says they are walking

on eggshells - an

expression which means to

be very careful about

what you do and say

because you don't

want to offend or

upset anyone.

But in fact the human 'books'

are rarely offended.

The event is all about

celebrating people's

difference and diversity - a

term which describes how

many different types of

people are included together.

Exactly. It's a celebration

for everyone regardless

of race, age or gender...

Or nationality... and that

reminds me - what was

the answer to your

question, Neil?

Oh yes, I asked how many

counties today have a

Human Library. What

did you say, Sam?

I guessed it was

c) 95 countries.

Which was... the wrong answer,

I'm afraid. The correct

answer was b) 85 countries,

from Norway and Hungary

all the way to

Australia and Mongolia!

Wow! I bet that makes a lot

of interesting stories!

OK, let's recap the

vocabulary for this

programme about people

sharing their experience

of facing prejudice - the

unreasonable dislike of

certain groups of people.

A safe space is place where

you feel protected from

danger and harm.

When we put someone in

a box, we judge them based

on their appearance or

a limited understanding of them.

If you feel uncomfortable,

you feel slightly worried

or embarrassed in

a social situation.

The expression walking on

eggshells means being very

careful about what you do

and say because you don't

want to offend anyone.

And finally, diversity is

a term describing many different

types of people being

included together.

Well, it's time to return

these human books back to

the library shelves because

our six minutes are up!

Join us again for more real-life

stories and topical vocabulary

here at 6 Minute English from

BBC Learning English.

Goodbye for now!

Bye!