How to Plan, Execute, and Assess

A Human Library Event

Fairfield University's DiMenna-Nyselius Library

 How to Plan, Execute, and Assess a Human Library Event

Written by Justine Ferrara in collaboration with Jacalyn Kremer and

Barbara Ghilardi at Fairfield University’s DiMenna-Nyselius Library

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0

International License. To view a copy of this license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative
Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.

1
 CONTENTS

Planning……….……………….……………………………………..…………….Page 3
Introduction…………………….………………………….……………Page 3
Timeline………………………….………………………….…………….Page 4
Partnerships…………………….………………………….……………Page 5
Book Recruitment…………….………………………….…………..Page 6
Book Preparation…………….………………………….……………Page 9
Reader Recruitment………….……………………….…………….Page 11
Social Media Presence……………………………….…………….Page 12
Event Execution………………………………………………….………….….Page 14
Materials………………………………..…………………………..…..Page 14
Books……………………………………..…………………………..…..Page 15
Readers………………….…………………..………………………..….Page 16
Volunteers on Event Day……………..………………………..…Page 17
Assessment………………………………………………………….…………….Page 18
Book Assessment.......................................................Page 18
Reader Assessment....................................................Page 20
Conclusion.………………………………………………………….……………..Page 22
Appendix…………………………………………………………………………….Page 23
Exhibit 1: Promotional Supplies……………..………….….…Page 23
Exhibit 2: Book Application……………………………….….….Page 25
Exhibit 3: Email to Club Leadership…………………….….…Page 27
Exhibit 4: Email to Faculty………………………………….….…Page 28
Exhibit 5: Book Training Manual……………………….….….Page 29
Exhibit 6: Checkout Board Book Name Examples.….…Page 32
Exhibit 7: Book Question Handout (used day-of).....…Page 33
Exhibit 8: Reader Question Handout (used day-of)…..Page 34
Exhibit 9: Assessment – Book Survey…..……………….….Page 35
Exhibit 10: Assessment – Reader Survey………………....Page 38
Exhibit 11: Wilton Public Library’s Human Library…...Page 41

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 EVENT PLANNING

Introduction

The Human Library is an internationally recognized event meant

to facilitate conversations between people. Human Library events aim
to break down stereotypes and preconceived notions humans have
about others by having participants (called "books") volunteer to tell
their stories and other participants (called "readers") have
conversations with these books.

At Fairfield University's DiMenna-Nyselius Library, our first Human

Library event in 2016 was very successful; there were 43 books and
over 400 readers. In 2017, over 500 readers came to the Human
Library to check out one of the 41 books.

Our 2017 event was held in two waves, from 1-4:30pm and from
6-8:30pm on Wednesday, November 8, 2017.

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 EVENT PLANNING
Timeline
- Meet to discuss University or community partners, finalize date, discuss timeline,
4 months (or
meet with Planning Board, and discuss needed subcommittees.
more) before
- Volunteers should decide on subcommittee involvement by the end of this month.
event
- Determine Planning Chairs.
- Create website with links to previous year's website, if applicable.
3 months before
- Discuss recruiting strategies and plan events for committee members and
event
volunteers to attend for advertising and book acquisition.
- Committee Members attend events for recruitment and advertising. At Fairfield U,
we attended the Diversity Office Re-Launch, the Student Activities Fair, and the
Cultural Fair.
- Reach out to last year's books to see if they want to be "sequels."
- First submissions should begin to be processed.
2 months before
- Planning Board Meeting to discuss Marketing, Book Recruitment, partnerships,
event – Book
and budget.
Recruitment &
- Reach out to organizations and clubs re: book recruitment (See Exhibit 3 for email
Preparation
language).
- Begin in-person meetings with books for discussion of their stories and event
logistics. After these meetings, put the information on the website.
- At the end of this month, we solidified plans for a Writing Center-Human Library
Collaboration to help books workshop their stories.
- Meetings with books continue, with the final meeting occurring towards the end
of this month.
- Send emails to faculty members to advertise to classes (See Exhibit 4 for email
language).
Month before
- Design and order t-shirts for books and volunteers.
event – Reader
- Planning Board Meeting to discuss completion of book recruitment, beginning of
Recruitment
reader recruitment, day-of logistics, and assessment.
- Decide when committee members will be volunteering.
- Coordinator/logistics subcommittee meeting to plan day-of logistics, including
volunteer hours and book time slots.
- Workshop with campus Writing Center to help books polish up their stories.
Month of event - If any books need extra guidance, now is the time to meet with them again.
- Finish all of the day-of materials.
Day of event - Host the event and take lots of pictures!
Month after event -Assess survey results and share with partners

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 EVENT PLANNING
Partnerships
For our event, we partnered with
multiple campus organizations:

 Student Diversity & Multicultural

Affairs
 Campus Ministry
 The Writing Center
 Student Engagement
 Residence Life
 Media Relations
 Academic Affairs
 Marketing and Communications
 Web Communications
 Center for Faith and Public Life
 Curriculum and Instruction
 Counseling & Psychological Services

As well as faculty from various

academic departments

For University Libraries, these types of organizations and offices on campus are
a great place to start, but for a non-university library, think about reaching out
to local TV/radio stations, religious and/or cultural groups, and schools to
recruit both books and readers.

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 EVENT PLANNING
Book Recruitment
Book Recruitment began shortly after students returned for the semester,
about two and a half months before the event.

Events

Activities Fair Cultural Fair

On-campus clubs and organizations This fair focuses on cultural differences. A
advertise to students. Two staff members student worker attended with advertising
and two student workers advertised to materials and an application could be
interested students. They could begin an started on-the-spot.*
application on-the-spot.*

*We found that applying “on-the-spot” was not very effective for intentional applicants. The best submissions came from
people who spent time thinking about their stories and the stereotypes they were breaking down. This was not always
possible when they were filling out the application in front of another person.

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 EVENT PLANNING
Book Recruitment
Outreach

We asked all of the books from 2016

if they would like to return, which was
quite effective, giving us eleven
“sequels.”

E-mails were sent to leaders whose clubs focus on political activism, cultural differences,
religious backgrounds, and other clubs with members who may be interested. The text for
this email can be found in the Appendix - Exhibit 3.

Each committee member was

asked to suggest three people
that they felt would be a good
book, as we found that “personal
asks” were the most effective
method of recruitment.

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 EVENT PLANNING
Book Recruitment
Outreach, cont.

For a few weeks, we had a student worker

sit in the library lobby with a promotional
sign, postcards, and handouts encouraging
students to apply as they entered or exited
the library.

Shortly before the deadline for book recruitment, a student worker went to the Office for
Student Diversity and Multicultural Affairs and the Commuter Lounge to explain the event
in person and give them information about applying.

We used social media and digital boards to

recruit books. See Social Media Presence
Section on Page 12.

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 EVENT PLANNING
Book Preparation

Most books met one-on-one with a Planning Board

member to craft their stories and discern which
experiences they wanted to share. In these
meetings, we asked the books for the following
information in order to populate the website:
 Book Title
 1-3 sentence story summary (for website and
abstract)
 If they were comfortable with having their picture,
book title, first name, and summary shared on
website (Y/N)
o If so: picture
o If not, a few options: Some chose book title,
first name, and summary, but no picture.
Some chose to remain anonymous, but had
title and summary on the website. A few
chose to stay off the website entirely.
 If they were comfortable with having their picture
and book title shared on social media (Y/N)
 Availability for the day of the event

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 EVENT PLANNING
Book Preparation, cont.

Books were encouraged, but not required, to attend a drop-in

workshop at the Writing Center a week before the event to
discuss their stories with a peer tutor. This event did not have
a very high turnout, but was helpful for those who attended.

Because many of the books wanted some time to "read" each

others' stories, next year we plan to use this Writing Center
Workshop as a book get-together where the books can share
their stories with one another and get feedback from peer
tutors and other books.

About a week before the event, we sent out a reminder email

with the times that each book signed up for. Attached to this
email was the Book Training Manual, which can be found in
the Appendix.

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 EVENT PLANNING
Reader Recruitment
Fairfield University has a program for all first-year students
called First-Year Experience (FYE) which requires them to go to
a certain number of on-campus events. Our Human Library
event counted for FYE Credit, which attracted a large number of
first-year students. To encourage other students to attend as
well, we sent out advertisements to everyone in our campus
community.

We had digital boards up around campus, and many of the

students that came the year before came again with friends.
Don’t discount word of mouth!

We emailed faculty to encourage their students to come,

either with their class, for extra credit, or on their own
time. This email can be found in the Appendix.

Many students find out about events and activities on campus via the University’s social media,
as well as the Library’s social media, so we advertised the event on both the University’s and the
Library’s Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat Channels – we even got a snapchat filter for the
day!

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 EVENT PLANNING
Social Media Presence

@FairfieldULib www.facebook.com/FairfieldULibrary @FairfieldULib

We promoted the Human Library before, during, and after the event on each of these social media sites,
Fairfield University's Instagram, as well as on our blog.

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 EVENT PLANNING
Social Media Presence, cont.

On the day of the event, we posted Snapchat

stories to Fairfield University’s Snapchat and
Instagram to advertise to people that the
event is happening!

We designed a specialized
Snapchat filter for the day that
students in and around the library
could use on their snapchat photos
and stories. It was used 83 times
and seen 9,600 times, generating
excitement for the event.
Snapchat Instagram

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 EVENT EXECUTION

Materials

Buttons and shirts were designed for books and volunteers.

In preparation for the event, we made and

laminated programs with all the books' titles
and descriptions on them. These programs
were given to the readers as they waited in line
to check out a book. This allowed them to make
The titles of all of the books were an informed choice when selecting a book.
printed on magnetic paper and
attached to a whiteboard as shown
above. When a book was checked Each book received a table tent with their first
out, the title was moved from
"Available" to "Checked-Out."
name, title, and if they had said they did not
want their photo taken, a small “No Photos”
indicator.

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 EVENT EXECUTION
Books
Books were asked to arrive 30 minutes ahead of
time to receive a t-shirt and a handout outlining the
questions the books can ask the readers if
conversation gets slow, as well as questions the
readers may ask the books.
Books were briefed once more on the event. They
were given directions on where they would bring
the readers for their conversation. For our event, we
used our lobby as our "bookshelf" and "circulation
desk" and our main floor study areas as are
conversation spaces. The conversation spaces were
open, public spaces.

Books were required to commit to at least two hours, but many chose to stay
longer. The first session was 3 1/2 hours long, which was draining for some
books. There was a break room with snacks and water, if at any point they felt
they needed to relax, which many books utilized. Counseling and Psychological
Services were on call as well, in case our books needed their help at any time
during the event.

15
 EVENT EXECUTION
Readers

Readers arrived as early as 20 minutes before the

session began and lined up near the check-out
board. As they arrived, volunteers handed them
Human Library stickers, programs, and a list of
questions they could use if the conversation got
slow. They were briefed on how the event would go
and were reminded to respect the books' stories.

Most readers believed that the stories were worth waiting for, especially those readers who came
with the intention of checking out specific books. Readers were able to put a hold on a book so they
could be the next person to have a conversation with them, once they were checked back in.

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 EVENT EXECUTION
Volunteers on Event Day

We had a total of 35 volunteers at the event consisting of

library staff, library student workers, and all on the planning committee.

When? What? Who?

1 hour Furniture arrangement, reader assessment room set up, book break 12 people
before room set up.
30 mins Break Room Monitor: Brief books one more time, answer lingering 2 people at
before questions, ensure books got t-shirts, give book questions, replenish beginning/1
snacks, assist with book survey, ensure books are doing well if they person
come in for a break. throughout event
15 mins Lobby Greeters: Explain event, direct people to whiteboard/give ear 2 people
before plugs to people there to study.
During Line coordinators: Hand out reader questions/book 2 people
event descriptions/stickers, answer questions about the event, advertise
Snapchat filter.
During Line monitors: Check out books that hadn't gotten checked out in a 2 people (fewer
event while. would have sufficed)

During Book Check-Out: Move the books' titles on the board to "Checked-Out" 2 people
event when they were in a conversation and "Available" when they were not,
tally the number of times each book was checked out on the back of
their magnetic strip. Holds were demarcated with an H on the board.
During Conversation Floaters: Ensure that books and readers have everything 2-3 people
event they need, direct books to break room if needed, direct readers to
assessment room.
During Reader Assessment Room Monitors: Monitor survey, answer questions 2-3 people
event about event, troubleshot any tech issues with survey.
During Social Media Directors: Post on University social media and Library 2 people
event social media to generate interest.
After Return furniture, clean up, put away equipment. 10 people
event

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 ASSESSMENT

Book Assessment
41 books shared their stories and completed a survey after the event. This survey
can be found in the Appendix - Exhibit 9.
This survey helped us to determine the impact of the Human Library on Fairfield
University's students, especially in relation to the Social Justice Learning Outcomes.

Role in Community
12%
17%
Faculty
First Year
17%
Junior
20% Senior
Sophomore
15% Staff

20%

Do you identify with a group that

has been marginalized and/or
stereotyped?

12
Yes
No
29

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 ASSESSMENT
Book Assessment, cont.
Through my conversations, I learned
about my own social identity
2

Agree
16 Strongly Agree
23 Disagree

Through my conversations, I feel I opened the

readers' eyes to other experiences, perspectives,
and worldviews they were unaware of before

22%

Agree
Strongly Agree

78%

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 ASSESSMENT
Reader Assessment
Over 500 readers attended, 98% of which were undergraduate students. 474
of them completed a survey after the event. This survey can be found in the
Appendix - Exhibit 10.
This survey helped us to determine the impact of the Human Library on Fairfield
University's students, especially in relation to the Social Justice Learning Outcomes.

The 'Book' was effective in

communicating their story, including
social identity, stereotypes and/or
barriers they face
0%
2%18% Agree
Strongly Agree
Disagree
80% Strongly Disagree

Through my conversations, I changed an

image or idea I had about a group of
people.

3%
10%
Agree
38%
Strongly Agree
Disagree

49% Strongly Disagree

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 ASSESSMENT
Reader Assessment, cont.
Through my conversations, my eyes were
opened to other experiences, perspectives,
and worldviews that I was unaware of
before.

2%
3%
Agree
32%
Strongly Agree
Disagree
63% Strongly Disagree

Through my conversations about the

"Book's" experiences, values, and
worldviews, I feel more connected to
people who are different than myself.

2%
3%
Agree
39% Strongly Agree
Disagree
56%
Strongly Disagree

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 CONCLUSION

Overall, the Human Library event at Fairfield

University's DiMenna-Nyselius Library was
very successful, and we plan to continue it
annually. Hopefully you feel prepared to
bring this event to your library as well. Good
luck and Happy Storytelling!

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 APPENDIX

Exhibit 1: Postcard + Handout Promotional Supplies

23
 APPENDIX
Exhibit 1: Postcard + Handout Promotional Supplies, cont.

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 APPENDIX
Exhibit 2: Book Application PDF

25
 APPENDIX
Exhibit 2: Book Application PDF, cont.

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 APPENDIX
Exhibit 3: Email to Student Club Leadership

27
 APPENDIX
Exhibit 4: Email to Faculty

28
 APPENDIX
Exhibit 5: Book Training Manual

29
 APPENDIX
Exhibit 5: Book Training Manual, cont.

30
 APPENDIX
Exhibit 5: Book Training Manual, cont.

31
 APPENDIX
Exhibit 6: Checkout Board Book Name Example

32
 APPENDIX
Exhibit 7: Book Question Handout
(Used on Day of Event)

33
 APPENDIX
Exhibit 8: Reader Question Handout
(Used on Day of Event)

34
 APPENDIX
Exhibit 9: Assessment – Book Survey

35
 APPENDIX
Exhibit 9: Assessment – Book Survey, cont.

36
 APPENDIX
Exhibit 9: Assessment – Book Survey, cont.

37
 APPENDIX
Exhibit 10: Assessment – Reader Survey

38
 APPENDIX
Exhibit 10: Assessment – Reader Survey, cont.

39
 APPENDIX
Exhibit 10: Assessment – Reader Survey, cont.

40
 APPENDIX
Exhibit 11: Pictures from Wilton Public Library’s Human
Library

41
 APPENDIX
Exhibit 11: Pictures from Wilton Public Library’s Human
Library, cont.

42