Owings Mills Branch Presents First Human Library

BCPL: Baltimore County Public Library’s Owings Mills Branch is hosting the library’s first-ever Human Library™, where people of different ethnicities, beliefs and experiences will serve as “human books” for checkout. Fourteen participants will serve as living books and engage in meaningful conversation with library visitors on Saturday, April 21 from 1 p.m.-4 p.m.

The Human Library™ is a place where real people are on loan to readers and where difficult questions are expected, appreciated and answered. It’s designed to build a positive framework for conversations that can challenge stereotypes and prejudices through dialogue. The public is invited to check out a living book and learn about a variety of experiences through questions and conversations.

Library staff put out a call for applicants in February, and more than 70 applications were submitted. Selected books are as follows:

· Teaching While Trans written by a transgender high school teacher;

· Waiting for a Sign by a deaf woman;

· Building Bridges, Not Walls by a Muslim-American woman;

· It Could Never Happen to Me by a formerly homeless mother of eight;

· Perfectly Imperfect by a man thriving after being diagnosed with several mental illnesses;

· An Inside Look at the Foster Care System by a Baltimore County foster care case manager;

· Profiled in Courage by a woman whose family was racially profiled by the police in a terrifying encounter;

· Broken Liquid by a woman who was raped, trafficked, beaten and left for dead;

· Where Did I Leave My Closet? by an LGBT mother;

· Autistic: Not A Robot by a successful woman with Asperger syndrome,

· I Will Never Accept Defeat written by a Ukrainian lawyer serving in the U.S. Army and awaiting citizenship;

· Sikhing Truth by a Sikh history teacher;

· To Protect and Serve by a Baltimore County Police Lieutenant;

· The Man in Black: Trans and Saudi by a transgender Saudi Arabian man who fled to the U.S. to transition safely.

Reservation sheets for human-book timeslots will be available on the day of the event at 12:45 p.m. (in person), and attendees are permitted to sign up for multiple sessions. Sessions will last between 15-20 minutes.

The Owings Mills Branch is located at 10302 Grand Central Ave. in Owings Mills in the Metro Centre development. Free garage parking is attached to the branch. Facebook event.

Articles/websites of interest about human libraries:

A look inside the Human Library, where you check out people instead of books (TODAY)

At This Library, You Can “Borrow” People Instead of Books (Reader’s Digest)

Check out a human library, where you borrow people instead of books (Upworthy)

Human Library Chicago

Baltimore County Public Library has been an anchor in the community since 1948 and continues to grow and evolve to meet the needs of Baltimore County residents. Today, its 19 branches are safe zones, civic centers, technology hubs and spaces for ideas and learning. Baltimore County Public Library has offerings for the entire family to explore, learn, create and connect. For more information about branches and services, visit bcpl.info and follow Baltimore County Public Library on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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