Visitors to the Canadian War Museum will be checking out more than the exhibits next winter when the museum hosts their first ever human library event.
During the one day event patrons can sign out different human “books” for one-on-one conversations with unique individuals such as soldiers and aid workers, all included in the price of admission. This event is to be part of the museum’s upcoming peace exhibit, currently in the planning stage.
"It was absolutely what we would like to be able to offer visitors on the subject of peace.” says Kathryn Lyons, senior interpretive planner at the Canadian War Museum.
As for visitors, attracting outside tourists to the museum may be important most of the time but for the human library event the museum is more concerned with stimulating discussion between members of the community, giving them a chance to talk about peace and what it means for both the “books” and borrowers.
“Anytime that people can share points of view, perspectives and stories in an open and respectful manner it benefits the community because it’s really how you build understanding and appreciation for one another,” says Lyons.
Fostering understanding has always been essential to the human library program. Since it began in Denmark in 2000, the human library has brought together people of different backgrounds at daylong events all over the world.
Last November, the Toronto Public Library held its first human library with 200 borrowed “books”.
The “books” are typically people with a unique story or experience to share, from police officers to people with mental health problems to same-sex couples. Plus all the “books” are volunteers, a major reason why the event remains a low cost investment for the participating communities.
When choosing the volunteer “books” it is important to look for outgoing, articulate individuals open enough to share their stories, who are able to connect with borrowers, says Anne Marie Aikins, manager of community relations at the Toronto Public Library.
“The human books, because they were outgoing, would ask questions of the borrower as well, and so . . . I think for both, the experience was very productive,” says Aikins.
The Canadian War Museum is looking for “books” who have had experiences in, or been involved with, the business of peace, from soldiers to aid workers to politicians to Vietnam war deserters.
“The definition of what (peace) is really varied as well, let alone the actions and choices people make for peace so it really does give us a rich potential in terms of perspectives and stories that we could draw in,” Lyons says.
On the day of the event visitors will be able to sign out “books” for 30-minute conversations .
To help enhance the human library event, the Canadian War Museum is partnering with the Ottawa Public Library.
The library is considering holding the event next January. Until then, they're looking for different volunteer books in the community.