<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\tIn addition to these personal examples, this module on the power of stories reminded me of social media projects such as Humans of New York<\/a> and A View from a Bridge<\/a>, as well as the popularity of street interview TikToks<\/a>, all of which are a little less participatory for the general public but are able to offer deeper, more intimate looks at the lives of everyday strangers than small slips of paper.<\/p>\n Most crucially, however, this module reminded me that storytelling is most effective as a two-way experience\u2014the audience\u2019s participation is just as important as (if not more important than) the telling of the story. It can be easy to simply leave your own sticky note on a board and walk away, but you can stay to read the other responses. Still, these vignettes are often just too short to provide much insight into other people\u2019s lives. And while putting your own story out there can make you feel like part of something bigger, you can connect better by engaging with the storytellers in person.<\/p>\n I think the importance of listening in the equation of storytelling is best exemplified by the Human Library, which has literally changed lives when \u201creaders\u201d interact with the human books (Ray, 2019<\/a>). There\u2019s value in meeting the storyteller in person too, as an individual, as opposed to simply hearing a recording of their story\u2014it human<\/em>izes them. Reading about this project, however, also reminded me of the YouTube channel Jubilee<\/a>, which often puts members of different groups in the same room (frequently it\u2019s \u201cliberals\u201d vs. \u201cconservatives\u201d). Being first and foremost a YouTube channel means that Jubilee selects participants, structures conversations, and edits content to sensationalize topics for views\u2014their methods are not without controversy, as demonstrated by the lengthy \u201cCriticism\u201d section<\/a> on their Wikipedia page.<\/p>\n In spite of this, I still see the merit in having people \u201cread human books\u201d and converse with those from different backgrounds. These interactions should be genuine attempts at connection, not recorded and published for the attention economy. Such connection is especially important in this age of increasing loneliness (OSG, 2023<\/a>), increasing polarization (Pew, 2022<\/a>), and disappearing \u201cthird places\u201d even before the COVID-19 pandemic (Finlay et al., 2019<\/a>). I was sad to learn that the Reading Garden in Copenhagen had to close down when the majority of the Human Library\u2019s 200+ U.S. partnerships ended because of DEI rollbacks here (Coe, 2025<\/a>), but I hope that libraries and other organizations, in the U.S. and beyond, are able to run similar programs to better foster empathy within our communities, both because of and in spite of this.<\/p>\n References<\/strong><\/p>\n Coe, J. (2025, October 24). People are \u2018open books\u2019 at Copenhagen\u2019s Human Library.\u00a0The World<\/em>. Retrieved from https:\/\/theworld.org\/stories\/2025\/10\/24\/people-are-open-books-at-copenhagens-human-library<\/a><\/p>\n Finlay, J., Esposito, M., Kim, M. H., Gomez-Lopez, I., & Clarke, P. (2019, November). Closure of \u2018third places\u2019? Exploring potential consequences for collective health and wellbeing.\u00a0Health & Place, <\/em>60<\/em>, Article 102225. https:\/\/doi-org.libaccess.sjlibrary.org\/10.1016\/j.healthplace.2019.102225<\/a><\/p>\n Office of the Surgeon General. (2023). Our epidemic of loneliness and isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General\u2019s advisory on the healing effects of social connection and community<\/i>. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/books\/n\/surgepidlonliness\/pdf<\/a><\/p>\n Pew Research Center. (2022, August 9). As partisan hostility grows, signs of frustration with the two-party system<\/em> [Report]. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/politics\/2022\/08\/09\/as-partisan-hostility-grows-signs-of-frustration-with-the-two-party-system<\/a><\/p>\n Ray, M. (2019, April 12). Courageous conversations at the Human Library.\u00a0Next Avenue<\/em>. Retrieved from https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20250207220839\/https:\/\/www.nextavenue.org\/courageous-conversations-human-library<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As a fan of participatory storytelling, I keep my eye (and camera) out for displays that invite the public to contribute glimpses into their own minds and lives. Below are just a few that I\u2019ve documented in the last two years: In addition to these personal examples, this module on the power of stories reminded … Continue reading Power of Stories Reflection: The Importance of Listening<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":822,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reflection-blogging"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/anitayjc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/anitayjc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/anitayjc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/anitayjc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/822"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/anitayjc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/anitayjc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/anitayjc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81\/revisions\/105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/anitayjc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/anitayjc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/287.hyperlib.sjsu.edu\/anitayjc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}