Reflection on the Power of Stories

Ever since our early development, humans have been telling stories — whether through paintings on walls or through song or dance. It’s in our nature. Today, when we talk about storytelling, we might think of books, TV shows, or movies. But while not everyone is a published writer or famed film director, we all have a story to tell. Nowadays our stories appear in the form of picture-perfect posts, reels, or TikTok videos where, generally, we’re presenting a persona out to the world. 

But when we look beyond social media and actually talk to a person, we can learn so much more from them. When I was a freelance writing tutor, I worked with a sixth grade girl. Perhaps the most memorable and most impactful assignment we worked on together was a biography about her grandfather. After sitting down with him for multiple sessions and recording his story, she learned about his experiences as a child living in one of the Japanese internment camps. While I was not privy to the conversations they had, it was incredible just seeing her reactions as she told me everything she had learned. I could tell this assignment had brought her closer to her grandpa and she came out of it with renewed respect and empathy for him. This, I believe, perfectly exemplifies the effectiveness of StoryCorps’ technique of pairing interviewees with a family member as the interviewer, as it seems to bring out authentic conversations and strengthen familial ties (Eberhart, 2018). This is also a perfect example of the power of stories.

But when it comes to storytelling and story collecting, no one does it better than libraries. Traditionally libraries are known for their book collections, especially their fiction collections. One thing that fiction books in particular do so well is to allow the reader to empathize with the characters. As Klinker (2020) explains, books can act as mirrors in which the reader can see themselves reflected through the characters or as lenses in which the reader can learn about cultures and perspectives which are new to them. I actually experienced this power of stories myself during the COVID pandemic. Even though I had always been a reader, I felt especially transformed by all the books I was voraciously reading during that time, as I branched out my reading (after just finishing my BA in Literature where I mostly was required to read British and white American literature) and read from more diverse voices. In doing so, I gained insight into cultures and experiences unique from my own, and came away with a deeper understanding and appreciation for perspectives I had not previously encountered.

However, while the power of stories is certainly at work through books, libraries can also make an impact on their communities in other ways. For instance, I am interested in the idea of the human library. As explained by Wentz (2013), the human library basically acts like a regular library, but instead of books or movies, readers check out people from stigmatized groups and then commence to converse with them and learn about their life experiences. The purpose of the human library is to challenge biases and ultimately find common ground. Since the origin of the human library in Denmark in 2000, the concept has truly taken off and made a difference in participants’ lives. According to Arne-Skidmore (n.d.), participating readers explained that “being faced with another human being inspired them to reflect on their own biases and resulted in an increased sensitivity towards the diversity that exists beyond physical appearance” (para. 3). In this world where it is so easy to judge a person based on stereotypes and harmful rhetoric being pushed through social media and other avenues, actually talking to someone who has been harmed by such rhetoric and can offer their own perspective is sure to open up a person’s eyes and make them at least question their prejudices. After all, we are all human. And while we may be different, there is so much more that can unite us. With the power of our stories, we can come to learn and understand each other.

Resources

Arne-Skidmore, E. (n.d). New study on the impact of the Human Library. Human Library. https://humanlibrary.org/new-study-on-the-impact-of-the-human-library/ 

Eberhart, G. M. (2018, February 10). Sharing people’s stories: StoryCorps partners with public libraries. American Libraries. https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/sharing-peoples-stories/ 

Klinker, J. (2020, July 24). The healing power of books: Using reading to address social and emotional needs. Gale. https://blog.gale.com/the-healing-power-of-books/ 

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