“That's where we have the opportunity for our library patrons to sit down and have a one-on-one conversation with a ‘human book,’” librarian Dan Compton said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour.”
Librarians jokingly call it checking out a person, who makes themself available so others can learn about their lived experience.
They keep the “titles” a secret until the day of the event.
“They always are people who have experienced prejudice in some form,” Compton said. “So just a couple of examples [from last year] were a refugee, a recovering alcoholic, sexual abuse survivor, someone who is blind. And people were able to come and have a conversation one-on-one in a safe space, and ask any questions they would like, and hopefully walk away from that with better understanding.”
Friends of the Summit County Library sponsors the free event.
Readers can drop by from 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Oct. 5. Conversations generally last 20 minutes or less.
