Not exactly what your thinking. It’s not an escort service, it’s a Library. Those crazy Brits have come up with a living library that isn’t filled with books but people, you borrow, spend time with, and return.
Pretty cool concept.
It works like a conventional library. Tables and chairs are set out for study. Librarians bustle purposefully, staffing the checkout desk.
Except these aren’t books on loan. They’re people.
Welcome to the Living Library. Here, you borrow individuals who represent stereotypes that often are the target of prejudice or hatred.
(via Theoretick)
January 3, 2009 at 3:44 am
It’d also be a cool concept for actual learning too. Have someone that knows history, someone that knows biology, and so on. Might actually be a doable concept.
January 3, 2009 at 3:59 pm
i was intrigued, so investigated further: http://living-library.org/
January 3, 2009 at 5:36 pm
The individual who represent stereotypes doesn’t act out those
stereotypes –> the wrong person was hired for the job and the person
who sought them out didn’t get what they were seeking.
The individual who represent stereotypes doe acts out those
stereotypes –> sterotype confirmed.
How can this possibly succeed? It reminds me of a childhood school
field trip to a reservation where the people who live there dressed up
like what they were supposed to look like on TV and pretended to
engage in arts and crafts that were never completed because they
needed to be worked on for the next tour. It also reminds me of
political theater, which the source article says is how
it began.
They have a neo-Nazi
on staff. Good for them for not limiting themselves to the pro-left
in helping people overcome bias. The neo-Nazi is a popular
book in some countries. Overcoming bias means overcoming bias,
not becoming a leftist. Yet… you know.
As theater, this sounds good. But when a public library (tax funded)
hosts a theist (be they Muslim, witch or whatever) for the purpose of
“setting forth their worldview” then that is a violation of the
separation of state and superstition. Not a big deal in other
countries. A big deal in mine.
January 4, 2009 at 2:33 am
Corrected: “They have a neo-Nazi
on staff.”
Previously accidentally not posted:
Technoccult
quotes Theoretick quoting
The
Canadian Newspaper quoting eTransgender
quoting ABC
News. None of these sites link to the actual official Living Library.
January 4, 2009 at 3:41 am
@Trevor – I think that balancing act (“representative but not stereotypical”) will be tough or even impossible to pull off. Also not sure how well this will work for tolerance, but it seems like it would be extremely useful for researchers.
“But when a public library (tax funded)
hosts a theist (be they Muslim, witch or whatever) for the purpose of ‘setting forth their worldview’ then that is a violation of the
separation of state and superstition.”
Do you think that print religious materials should be excised from libraries?
January 4, 2009 at 10:27 am
Klintron: no. Printed / recorded materials are not living things and are definitely not human beings. They are never active agents, no matter what music censors say, no matter what politically correct people say, no matter what anti-porn people say, no matter what religious people say, no matter what anyone says. I want more printed / recorded things in the library, not less. Including things I am very against.
People as books makes good theater, but it isn’t real. I can tell the difference betwen my taxes paying for religious books (oh well) and my taxes paying for religious people (no way).