By Jessie Weisner

Human book event comes back to library

Mar 21, 2019 | 5:28 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — On March 23, the Medicine Hat Public Library is joining the city-wide initiative ‘Raising the Curtain’ which aims to celebrate diversity and inclusion.

The library is partnering up with Unisphere to host a ‘Human Library Book’ event, giving people the chance to meet with their diverse neighbours.

People who have unique and diverse experiences will act as the ‘human book’, people are able to have conversations with them about their topic.

“We have someone talking about their transgender experience, someone talking about their gay experience,” says Shalla Shaharyar, chair of Unisphere, and a human book. “I will be talking about Islam, we have a chaplain from the college who will be talking about Christianity, we have someone who’s talking about their experience being homeless, so we have a diverse number of human books.”

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Shaharyar says it’s a good setting to connect with people.

“It’s really having that engagement with the rest of the community and talking about our own personal experiences,” says Shaharyar. “I think this event allows us to have those meaningful engagements in a very informal kind of space.”

In addition, she says it’s important to let down barriers, and ask real questions.

“My hope is that we have those really candid conversations, and that people ask the questions that they really want to ask.”

Shaharyar will be discussing the topic of Islam.

“I am a student of Islam. I don’t hold the expertise of Islam but because I practice the faith I am a Muslim and my experience as a woman in Islam I think a lot of people have questions about, and have a lot of misconceptions so I hope to talk about my experience of living in this community as a Muslim woman and what Islam means to me.”

This is the second year of the event, and Shaharyar hopes this one will have a better turn-out.

“Last year Unisphere also coordinated this event with Medicine hat public library and even though we would have hoped for more traffic for that event, I think that the conversations that came out of it were really great.”

The ‘Human Library Book’ event will be at the Medicine Hat Public Library from 1:30 to 4 p.m. on Saturday March 23.