Lismore City Council in the northern rivers region of New South Wales is working with the Federal Department of Immigration and Citizenship to expand a project that brings people together in one to one conversations. The Living Library project aims to encourage understanding, challenge negative stereotypes and reduce prejudice by building bridges between diverse members of the community.
First introduced in Denmark in 2000 as a part of fairs and festivals, the program has now become internationally recognised.
Lismore City Council launched Australia’s first Living Library in 2006.
The Living Library is like a normal library, however the books are people representing groups frequently confronted with prejudices and stereotypes, and who are often victims of discrimination or social exclusion. Visitors to the library are ordinary community members who have the opportunity to ‘borrow’ a living book for an informal, half hour conversation.
National Living Library Project Manager, Shauna McIntyre, said Lismore holds its Living Library sessions on the first Friday of every month.
“Around 15 from the total collection of 60 Living Library books are available at each session,” she said. “The librarian introduces the reader and the living book, who then go to a reading booth and start a conversation.
“Through conversation, communities are brought closer together, attitudes changed, prejudice and fear decreases, and social inclusion is strengthened.”
Shauna McIntyre said Lismore’s living books represent a range of local groups, including newly arrived African refugees and long term migrants from Italian, Japanese, German and Filipino backgrounds.
“The living books also represent multi faith communities from Buddhist, Muslim, Christian and Jewish faiths,” she said. “There are also people with physical and mental health disabilities, as well as people of different sexualities, lifestyles and occupations.
“Since the initiative began, hundreds of readers have borrowed living books and the number of visitors to the library continues to increase as word of its success spreads. We have had a Regional Director of Education and Training who borrowed a Sudanese refugee to learn more about the backgrounds of students at her schools, and a leader of a large institution where a rape had occurred was able to borrow a sexual assault survivor.”
Since the launch in Lismore, the Living Library model has been successfully adapted to suit different communities.
Libraries have been established in the District Council of Mount Barker in South Australia, Brisbane City in Queensland and the City of Stirling in Western Australia.
Given the success of Lismore’s Living Library and the ongoing demand and interest for the program from communities across Australia, Lismore sought and obtained funding to make living libraries a strategy accessible to all communities.
This grant, through the Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s Living in Harmony Program, is assisting the development and implementation of a National Living Library Implementation Strategy, Living Libraries Australia.
Living Libraries Australia will promote and support the establishment of Living Library projects to communities across Australia by providing:
- a website of downloadable
resources - promotional strategies and
materials - a national network for
information exchange.
The website will be launched in September and the National Network office will be established by November.
For further information visit www.livinglibraries.org.au or contact Shauna McIntyre on (02) 6625 0500.
