Human Library Event Held at Sabancı University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Human Library was held at Sabancı University on November 26, 2024 at Sabancı University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

As with normal libraries, the Human Library consists of readers, librarians, books, and book catalogs. The only difference between this library and the rest is that the books in the Human Library are people like you and us and they engage in a personal dialogue with their readers rather than just “being read”. The starting point of the library is “Do not judge the book by its cover!” and the books in this library are from different segments of society, struggling with prejudices and stereotypes, and with different life experiences.

Human Library welcomed the Books such as daughter of an Alzheimer’s patient, homeless, gay, bisexual, search and rescue, stutterer, ex-anorexic, a gay mother, a person with cerebral palsy, vegan, albino, female train driver, delivery worker, visually impaired guitarist, a person with tourette syndrome.

Books and readers who attended the event shared their experiences as follows:

 “First of all, the interest of young people made me happy. Curious questions such as how can we recognize Alzheimer's, what are the first symptoms, how is forgetfulness here different from ordinary forgetfulness. Remembering, recognizing and expressing oneself... It is a journey where the things that make us who we are are lost in our social relationships. A challenge not only for the patient but for everyone affected, for the whole family. Alzheimer's is the disease with the highest caregiver burden. I thought that these young people with high energy and brilliant minds could easily overcome this burden. I admired how curious, empathetic and intelligent they were.” (Daughter of Alzheimer's Patient)

“Being read as a book in Human Library by the students and academics of our school was a wonderful experience in every aspect. It was very motivating and inspiring for me to discuss my ethical values on animal rights with my readers and to explain my own way of life, which I sometimes felt left out of the general perception by my environment or felt strange! I left the event feeling more understood and feeling that I made a difference.” (Ethical Vegan)

“During the event, it was very valuable to support and, so to speak, guide the students who went through similar processes with me based on my own process. From the outside, it is sometimes very easy to understand that a person has an eating disorder, but sometimes it is just as difficult. For this reason, I became a book that hits the point of the concept of not judging a book by its cover. At first, I thought a lot about how it would make me feel to tell the same things, but at the end of the day I realized that sharing with different people in every session helped me to see this process I went through from different windows.” (Ex-Anorexia)

"Being a reader at the Human Library is a really unique experience. I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to sit at the same table with groups that we know exist in the society but do not have the opportunity to talk to. The stories I listened to helped me gain different perspectives on many issues." (Reader)