I'd like to renew Lesbian Feminist
Living Libraries lend out people instead of books. The aim is to overcome prejudices.
PATRICIA TREBLE | July 23, 2008 |
At a Living Library held at the end of May in London, the 26 "books" available for loan included Funeral Director, Witch, Indian Atheist, and Post-Op Transgender Person, not to mention Irish Traveller. What the blandly uninformative titles don't convey is that the books were actual humans. Living Libraries allow "readers" to have a candid chat with people (referred to as books) they'd normally never meet. The process, from searching the catalogue to taking out the book, mimics a real library. But the intent is to overcome stereotypes and prejudices. The organizer in London, Anne Kilroy, advised readers to "choose a book to reflect their prejudice." By that she means "challenge," and to that end the books wore T-shirts with the slogan "What's Your Prejudice?" and the catalogue description attached to each listed common stereotypes — those attached to Police Officer, for example, included "racist," "homophobic" and "bully."
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