In Copenhagen, you can 'borrow a person' instead of a book

In a Copenhagen garden, you can borrow a person instead of a book. The Human Library lends out volunteers — each with a life story that is often met with assumptions — for an honest, one-on-one conversation.

The idea is simple and disarming: sit down, ask what you have always wondered, and listen. People tend to leave having swapped a stereotype for a real human being.

First started in Denmark, the Human Library has since spread around the world — a gentle, low-tech antidote to the snap judgements and quiet walls we put up without meaning to.