No two people read the same book - Edmund Wilson

I just finished reading a fascinating story in today's edition of the London Times about a living library that speaks to the validity of Wilson's statement in the title of this posting. The guiding concept of a living library is that library patrons can "borrow" a person such as Gay Man, Immigrant, Ex-Gang Member, etc., for a 30-minute "read"/chat. Different people who fit a particular demographic volunteer to be a human book in order to facilitate communication and knowledge transfer with others.

The article reports on the experiences of David Baker and his first experience as the human book, Gay Man, and being "checked out" three times during the course of the day. Each patron wanted to tap his knowledge in a uniquely different way. An Eastern European woman shared with him how it upset her to see homosexuals kissing in public. An Anglican priest-in-training had a list of questions that seemed motivated by a desire to decide what his position should be on civil partnerships and whether gay couples should be allowed to adopt children. Two young black men asked Baker about the frequency of his experiences with homophobia in an effort to better understand why they often had strong negative feelings towards gay men.

This is fascinating on several levels, but especially for libraries in terms of facilitating communication between knowledge resource and knowledge seeker, the unique information needs of individuals, operating as a community center, and understanding that knowledge is not a static reality contained within a static entity such as a book or even a person. Different people approached the same "book" with different needs in terms of what they were looking for in order to make sense of a particular situation in their life. The way that each borrower used the "book" also caused a different effect on the book himself. Baker came to realize that he did not know much about Eastern Europeans, that he really did not have well developed positions on civil partnerships and adoption, and that his fear of young black men was just as detrimental yet curable as was their homophobia.

Evidently, the concept of a living library started in Scandinavia and is catching on in other parts of Europe. I hope to see announcements for Living Library day soon here in the States.