KERSHAW COUNTY, S.C. — The library is full of storytelling, featuring different experiences, diversity, and concepts.
The Kershaw County Library is planning to take those stories from authors and use real people from their community to showcase their life experiences in the hope it will open dialogue for their Human Library.
"The idea is that you have an event, and you have books that are people, so the people are made up of members of the community with the goal of looking into stereotypes, and prejudices and trying to make human connections, so some of the books that we might have would be people who have health issues, stigma like a disability, it might be someone whos' experienced prejudice because of their orientation or ethnicity," says Amy Schofield, Kershaw County Library Director.
Schofield says after hearing about the concept, she felt the community could benefit.
"The idea for the human library came from a member of our community, but he was concerned about divisiveness and people just in general not being able to have civil conversations," Schofield said. "So, the idea of the human library comes from Denmark. It's a non-profit that's been around for 22 years. It's been in 85 countries, but we've never had one in South Carolina."
As of now, they have had 12 applications for "human books," and they are still accepting applications, with no official deadline.
"The idea is to have a dialogue, to make a human connection, so we are hoping people will come with questions," Schofield said. "It's not a soapbox, it's not a place to argue, it's not a place to convert people. The whole idea is to create human connections and that's our goal."
The event is scheduled to take place at the Camden branch of the Kershaw County Library on Sunday, February 26th, and Monday, February 27th.