Pragati, the social sensitivity cell of IIM Indore conducted ‘Human Library’ in association with Human Library, Chapter Indore on January 21, 2018. The aim of the event was to let people become the books and share their stories and experiences with others. The event saw active participation from the students and the staff members, as they were enthusiastic to know the stories of people on the other side of the judgement bias. The 6 ‘books’ shared their experiences of motocross racing, recovering from alcoholism, HIV positive story, being bisexual, struggling from child abuse, fighting cancer, and overcoming depression.
Human Library movement started in India in 2016 and this was their 2nd event at IIM Indore. The concept of the Human Library works just like a book library, the only difference being that here, the books are the real people. The participants can go and join any person who is sharing his/her experience, ask questions and choose to leave it and join any other ‘book’ anytime.
The Human Library is a movement which started in Copenhagen by Dany Abergel, Asma Mouna, Christoffer Erichsen and Ronni Abergel to stop the violence and encourage a dialogue among people after the ethnical violence in 1993. The main aim behind the establishment was to let people know the stories of others and challenge their stereotypes and prejudices.
The event was appreciated by the participants as it was useful in sensitizing the future leaders to be open to different experiences of people, without biases.