At one Swedish
library, you can borrow
books -- and a
lesbian
By AP from the
Advocate.com on the Web, August 21, 2005
A Swedish library, realizing that
books are not the only things being judged by their covers, will give visitors a
different opportunity this weekend — to borrow a Muslim, a lesbian, or a Dane.
The city library in Malmo, Sweden's third-largest city, will let curious
visitors check out living people for a 45-minute chat in a project meant to tear
down prejudices about different religions, nationalities, or professions.
The project, called Living Library, was introduced at Denmark's Roskilde
Festival in 2000, librarian Catharina Noren said. It has since been tried
at a Copenhagen library as well as in Norway, Portugal, and Hungary.
The people available to be "borrowed" also include a journalist, a gypsy, a
blind man, and an animal rights activist. They will be available Saturday
and Sunday in conjunction with a Malmo city festival and are meant to give
people "a new perspective on life," the library said in a statement.
"There are prejudices about everything," Noren said. "This is about
fighting those prejudices and promoting coexistence."
Borrowing a person will be free, and the library will also provide coffee at its
cafe where the "living books" will answer questions about their lives, beliefs,
or jobs. "It's supposed to be relaxed and human-to-human," Noren said.
Malmo, located on Sweden's southwestern coast, has one of Sweden's largest
immigrant communities. It is also located just a narrow strait away from
Denmark, and centuries of warfare between the countries has been replaced with a
friendlier rivalry in recent decades. Still, both nationalities have
several stereotypes about their neighbors. "Danish Radio called to ask
what prejudice we have about Danes," Noren said. "They had some tough
questions for me."
Interest in the project has been high, Noren said, although the library does not
allow bookings — the human subjects will be checked out on a first-come,
first-served basis. And it will not necessarily be people with prejudices
who will take the opportunity. "It could be that you're about to belong to
one of these categories yourself, such as someone losing their eyesight," Noren
said. "Or it could be someone who just found out their child is a lesbian.
But then there are people who just want to unload a lot of anger. These
people [who get borrowed] are ready for anything to happen."
The "living books" are all from the Malmo area and were recruited via different
organizations and associations. However, it wasn't possible to find
suitable subjects from all desired professions. "We would have liked to
have a police officer and maybe a meter maid," Noren said.
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