Curiosity in Action: The Human Library at Welcoming Week NWA 2024

A few years ago, Springdale librarian Tanya Evans was helping a friend transport a furniture donation to Canopy NWA when the friend confided in her: “I know we have refugees from Afghanistan here, but where are they? I haven't met any.”

The conversation stuck with Evans, who typically sees immigrants and refugees from four or five countries in the course of an ordinary work day. Not everyone had that same opportunity, she realized.?

Evans wanted to provide it, and the Human Library she organized as a part of Welcoming Week NWA 2024 proved the perfect way to do so.

What is The Human Library?

The Human Library – motto: "Unjudge Someone” – began in 2000 in Copenhagen, Denmark, and is now available in more than 80 countries. Logistically, Human Libraries are sort of like speed dating, says Evans. Instead of looking for love, readers can borrow real people who serve as open books, sharing experiences and perspectives readers don't usually have access to. Readers’ difficult questions are expected, appreciated, and answered.?

How Does The Human Library Help?

NWA was eager to learn! About 75 people came out to the Springdale Library to talk with the event's 13 human books. The Human Library requires that all participants complete an event evaluation, and Evans was moved by what she read: “It wasn't what I did – it was the books. The books were the stars. I was amazed at how grateful people were for this opportunity. That’s what floored me. People were thirsty and got that drink of water.”?

How do we let ourselves get so dehydrated??

Often, Evans says, we can't see the water that's right in front of us. We miss opportunities to have curious conversations in our day-to-day lives because our expectations of what people from unfamiliar groups look like keep us from seeing them: “A lot of times people you work with every day, you don’t know. They may be gay, or have DACA status or be in substance use recovery, or be neurodiverse, or trafficked into this country. So many times we don’t know. Everybody has a story.”

Our uncertainty about whether people want to share their stories can also stand in our way, Evans explains.

“A lot of times we’re curious but we don’t want to be rude. We want to ask questions, but we want to be respectful. Having a place where you can ask, can have those conversations, is so important. The Human Library gives people that opportunity. Books were obviously welcoming of those questions and wanted to tell people their stories.”

“I was just amazed at how brave these people were. To be willing to sit down with a perfect stranger and share a part of your life that might be difficult or painful.”

How Do We Set Limits?

Evans cares deeply about the books and was nervous in the weeks leading up to the event. “I didn't want anyone abusing or mishandling them,” she says.?

The Human Library trains books in how to protect parts of their stories that are private or still too raw to discuss. "They can say, 'This chapter is closed, this chapter is under construction. People can ask them anything, but they don't have to answer anything. It's The Human Library, not The Human Circus,” explains Evans.

But the books were happy to open up, and everything went well. “People came with a curiosity that was genuine,” says Evans.

How Can We Promote Curiosity?

“I think we are at a point in society where there’s so much negativity and othering and “them” and demonization, but when you open up opportunities like this you give people the chance to know their neighbors and see that they love their families too, they change diapers, they like jelly beans. They're human beings also. We have so much in common with people who seem like they're 180 degrees from us.”

Preparing for a Human Library event typically takes about three years and a team of three to five people. This was a labor of love for Evans, a team of one, who accomplished it in just nine months. She's grateful for the mentorship of a friend and fellow librarian in Fayetteville, who had done a Human Library event before, and to the EngageNWA team that encouraged her when she felt overwhelmed.

Most of all she's grateful to the human books and readers who prioritized the kind of connection that's only possible through curiosity. “It was worth every minute,” Evans says. “We should do this all the time.”

Looking for ways to welcome more curiosity into your life? Scott Shigeoka spoke at Thaden School during Welcoming Week 2024, and we think his book Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World is a great place to start. It's now available in paperback. Bonus points if you order from a local independent bookstore like Two Friends Bookstore, Pearl's Books, or Once Upon A Time!