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People were renting out more than your average book in Belk Library on Friday. The book jackets came to life and shared their stories in person.
"The human books basically create a book jacket where they describe their identities or how they view themselves or the part of themselves that they want to focus on," said Patrick Rudd, a librarian in Belk Library and one of the event organizers. "The reader checks out the human book and basically has a discussion about the identity or the way the person describes themselves."
Students, faculty and staff filled Belk Library's second floor eager to hear about the people they see walking around campus every day. This aspect of the human library is what brought in Alli Lindenberg, an Elon junior.
"One of the cool things about Elon is that we're such a small school that most of the books who have chosen themselves as books, I have heard of," she said. "It was just really cool to have such a meaningful conversation with someone I've never met before."
Linda Dunn, Assistant Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, volunteered herself as a human book on her birthday. She used the holiday as a source of inspiration for her story.
"I think about my history on my birthday," said Dunn. "I'm trying to make peace and share stories how everyone can be a peacemaker."
The Human Library was sponsored by the LGBTQIA Center, Residence Life, Spectrum and Belk Library. They hope to get more students as books next time.
Rudd said the lack of students might be due to outreach. "It was opened up to everyone, there was more response from faculty and staff," he said. "I think we're using this as sort of a pilot to think about next time, and how we can do it differently and reach out to different groups "
The next Human Library event won't be until next year. If you're interested in volunteering as a book, contact Patrick Rudd in Belk Library.