The Human Library

They represent groups in society who are frequently exposed to prejudice and discrimination because of their lifestyle, occupation, social status, ethnic origin or the like.

The Human Library is a non-profit association that works to create greater tolerance and understanding for diversity in society. We do this by creating a dialogue space where challenging and often taboo topics can be discussed openly, without judgement. A place where people who would otherwise never meet and talk together can find space for conversation. The starting point is that we all benefit from challenging our prejudices and at the Human Library you can ask about everything.

The Human Library started as an event at the Roskilde Festival in 2000, organized by Ronni and Dany Abergel and Asma Mouna and Christoffer Erichsen from the Stop Violence association. The first Human Library was open eight hours a day, four days in a row, and readers could choose from 50 different titles. The wide selection of books gave readers ample opportunity to challenge their prejudices – a chance they seized. More than a thousand readers participated in the event, which convinced both books, librarians, readers and organizers that the Human Library had the potential to change society.

Today, the Human Library has book depots in Copenhagen, Odense, Aarhus and Esbjerg-Varde and the concept is spread to more than 85 countries worldwide.

The reading garden in Union

The world's first permanent Human Library was opened in June 2020 in Union's forecourt, which was thus renamed the Reading Garden.

The concept is simple: You show up at the library desk, are issued a borrower's card and receive guidance from the librarians about the items that are available for lending. When you have chosen your book, you can sit in the reading garden and have an open conversation, where all questions about the subject are welcome.

The selction of human book varies from week to week.