Reflection Blogging – The Power of Stories

The library is an essential location for stories to be shared. Some would say that the library is THE place for people to look for stories shared through books, articles, magazines, etc. Libraries have always been about stories but as technology and communication has changed, so too have libraries and librarian’s roles. Librarians have taken roles such as amplifiers, facilitators, and co-creators. As librarians have known that sharing stories is always important for the library and others alike, they have taken the next step in allowing others to share their stories. The idea of Human Libraries originated in Denmark back in 2000. “The first human libraries in the United States were held in 2008 by the Bainbridge Public Library (BPL) in Bainbridge Island, Washington, and Santa Monica (Calif.) Public Library (SMPL)” (Wentz 2013). The Human Library takes checking out books and other resources into checking out ‘Human books’ that allow for people to have one-on-ones with each other to learn about different cultures, backgrounds, history, etc. This allows for people to be more open-minded to stories and backgrounds that they might not be familiar with or may not have experienced personally. This works hand in hand with how libraries operate already, as the library is always trying to find ways to be more inclusive and diversified to different subjects, authors, and stories. 

Public libraries, specifically, may benefit from this ‘Human Library’ experience because their communities might be more diversified than an academic library, allowing for learning and growth in the community. The human library will also connect the library to the public, connect the public to itself, and connect other communities to the library. As mentioned earlier, Bainbridge Public Library and Santa Monica Public Library contacted each other about how to enact this program and actually were able to increase and share their resources for other library programs as well. Having the ability to connect libraries to each other can have many benefits and these benefits will roll down to the community and allow for the libraries to reach more communities and provide more resources. As we know, libraries are constantly having to prove that they are a pivotal resource in a community, and this could one of those pushes that shows that they are worth keeping. 

References

(n.d.) (2025). The Human Library [Photograph]. Peninsula Jewish Community Center. The Human Library – Peninsula Jewish Community Center

Wentz, E. (2013). The Human Library: Sharing the Community with Itself. Public Libraries Online. https://publiclibrariesonline.org/2013/04/human_librar/.