Challenge your stereotypes! Human Library and its impact on prejudice in Poland

Human Library is a public event aimed at reducing stereotypes and prejudices, in the form of an interactive, contact-based intervention. It employs the logic of a regular library yet with readers “borrowing” Living Books, which are real people representing various minority groups. Readers engage in 30-min conversations, during which they can challenge their stereotypes and widen their scope of knowledge and understanding. This pre-post intervention study examined the effectiveness of the Human Library (held in Wrocław, Poland) in reducing social distance towards Roma, Muslims, dark-skinned, and transgender people, as well as in decreasing homonegativity. Also, we measured whether participation in the Human Library changes individual attitudes towards diverse workgroups. We found that the Human Library decreased social distance towards Muslims. Also, the more Living Books that the participants “read,” the bigger the shift in their social distance towards Muslims. Furthermore, we observed an increase in positive affective attitude towards working in diversified groups, as a result of participation in the event. The study serves as partial support for the effectiveness of the Human Library in altering one's attitude towards minority groups and diversity. The intervention is discussed as a promising but not yet entirely understood tool to improve intergroup relations.