Inspired by the Human Library concept first started in Copenhagen, Harshad Dinkar Fad has brought together, in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, his own set of Human Books (for instance, someone from the LGBTQ community in a country which still has an archaic, Victorian anti-homosexuality law or a survivor of domestic abuse — usually people whose experiences break stereotypes) and Human Readers or people who can engage in conversation with the books. All to facilitate a better interaction and break stereotypes between people who would otherwise be unlikely to speak to one another.
The Human Library Hyderabad is a positive framework for conversations that can challenge stereotypes and prejudices through dialogue. It is an event based concept and the modus operandi is like any other general library where there’s a book depot, library desk, book catalogue, librarians and readers.
The first human library event was conducted in Hyderabad in March 2017 and till December a total of 12 such events have been done. The idea of the library is for a reader, or any participant in the programme, sit down and have a conversation with a ‘human book’ or someone with a unique personal experience who is ready to have a conversation with a stranger. A Human Book is a person who has volunteered to challenge prejudice through respectful conversation with members of the public, who borrow them for a conversation. To be a Human Book one has to fill a form on www.humanlibraryhyderabad.com which is processed by the organizing team who have a telephonic conversation with the interested person and then a meeting where a ‘title’ and ‘blurb’ for the book are decided.
The Human Library concept was invented by Ronnie Abergel of Copenhagen Denmark in the year 2000. In India, the first ever Human Library was conducted at the Indian Institute of Management at Indore, and Human Library Hyderabad was the second city to open the library.
‘I moved to Hyderabad from Pune two years ago to study media administration. Along with the Human Library work that I do, currently, I am also working as the community manager of Kahaniya, an online publishing platform,’ founder Harshad Dinkar Fad told Grin.
‘Interestingly the concept of Human Library even though very new to India was picked up very well and became extremely popular after our first event in Hyderabad,’ he said. The library had ‘human books’ from the LGBTQ (lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender) communities, differently-abled folk, survivors of sexual abuse and domestic violence and others.
‘Human Library is a two-way process where the human books also gain a lot from sharing their personal experiences. One such moment that touched me was when a book whose title read Domestic Violence Survivor told me how sharing her experiences and receiving the empathy and support from her readers has made her feel good about herself and that now she wanted to live not only for her children but also for herself,’ said Fad who wants to organise a human library in every Indian city in the next five years.
‘We want to build a habit among people to check their prejudices before building any preconceived notions about a person or a group,’ said Fad.
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