EDWARDSVILLE - The Edwardsville Public Library invites community members to have conversations with individuals who have experienced prejudice.
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The Human Library program is scheduled for 2–5 p.m. on Saturday, April 5, 2025, at the Edwardsville Public Library. This event features individuals — called “Human Books” — “on loan” for a conversation. Attendees can “check out” a Human Book for a one-on-one 15-minute conversation about that person’s life and experience with prejudice. Greg Kessler, Head Librarian of Adult Services, explained that the goal is to promote cross-cultural understanding.
“The idea is to get a more intimate, personal view of people whose life experiences are different than what you’re used to,” he said. “You go check out books to find out something that you didn’t already know. This gives you an opportunity to go beyond paper or movies or music or anything else and actually sit across somebody with that actual experience and listen to them talk.”
Edwardsville Public Library’s "catalog" of Human Books includes international students, individuals who have experienced homelessness, folks who were formerly incarcerated and others “whose life experience may put them at risk of prejudice,” the library explained in a statement.
There will be ten Human Books available for 15-minute conversations. Each Book will tell their story and answer questions.
Kessler explained that the Human Library program is an international project that started in Holland. The slogan is “Unjudge Someone,” and the goal is to foster empathy and understanding through people’s experiences.
Kessler and Edwardsville Public Library Executive Director Diana Sussman have been planning the event in Edwardsville for months. Sussman previously held three successful Human Library events in Carbondale, and the duo is hopeful that this Edwardsville event will be the first of many.
“The idea of a library is to learn something new, and this gives you that chance to learn something new in a way you usually wouldn’t,” Kessler added. “I just hope people will come and spend some time and listen to these stories, because I think the stories are going to be really interesting. I think it’ll be totally different from what people are used to.”
This event is an adult program, though children under age 18 can participate with parental permission. For more information, visit the official Facebook event page.
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