Consuming stories shapes how we view the world and teaches us how to empathize. Even the most seemingly mundane stories from patrons could unknowingly make their entire day. Everyone deserves to tell their story and have someone listen to their story.

Before I started writing my blog post, I was watching Dawson’s Creek and there is a scene that reminded me of this module. In the scene, one of the main characters, Jack McPhee, begins volunteering for a school tutoring program. Jack was working with one of the students that was not quite on the same reading level as everyone else yet, and seemed to not be very interested in reading. To get him more interested in the assignment, Jack asks him to write his own book for his storytelling assignment with words he knows. The student is very excited about this idea and actually opens up to Jack. All he truly wanted was for someone to listen to him and meet him where he was at. This conveys how powerful stories are because they are able to help us understand one another.

One of the concepts that resonated with me the most from this week’s materials was the topic of human libraries. Human libraries first began in Denmark in 2000 and have since spread across the globe (Wentz, 2013). Wentz essentially describes these libraries as people acting as books that the public can “check out” and just have a conversation with their book to get whatever it is they need or want from the interaction (2013). This is essentially the interaction that happened between Jack and the student in Dawson’s Creek. This article also makes the great point that public libraries should have human library programs because public libraries are there to connect with the public and give them a platform to exchange ideas (Wentz, 2013). I think the human library is a perfect way to allow its users to grow and receive advice from other community members. Patrons may not have any other friends, family, or resources, so the human library could be their story sanctuary.

Resources

Wentz, E. (2013, April 26). The human library: Sharing the community with itself. Public Libraries Online. https://publiclibrariesonline.org/2013/04/human_librar/