GUIDELINES FOR LIBRARIANS

PREPARATION

  1. Organize a meeting between librarians and books in order to get to know the stories.
  2. Organize a meeting between librarians and organizers in order to:
    • Get to know each other: librarians can be volunteers of the organization or outsiders. In both cases, they should meet the organizers and trained by them.
    • The structure of the event and logistics: librarians should be informed about the general rules of the event, the timetable, the underlying objectives.
    • What to do in case of emergencies.
    • Share the awareness of their role: librarians should be aware of the difficulties of dealing with people, the possible issues that may arise.

IMPLEMENTATION

  1. Getting ready: wear your recognizable t-shirt and smile!
  2. Welcome to the readers: librarians should introduce them to the concept of the Living Library, as well as to the rules.
  3. Guiding the readers in the choice of the book:
    • Providing a short description of the story or some key-words, related stereotypes.
    • Suggesting stories that fit the interest of the reader, taking into account that the less popular books should be promoted while the most desired ones should be provided with breaks (always keeping in consideration the maximum number of readers allowed per book).
  4. Supervising
    • Books:
      • Each librarian should take care of a maximum number of 5 books.
      • Occur in case of signals with the body (previously agreed).
      • personal needs, both physical and emotional ones (for instance, assuring books have water/coffee, assuring they are in a good mind-state..).
    • Readers:
      • Ready to intervene if needed (in case of misbehaviours or excessive questions.. ).
  5. Bringing readers to the books
  6. Management of
    • Timetable: for instance, informing the book of the upcoming end of the session (‘5 minutes to the end).
    • Bookings: allowed number of readers per book.
    • Evaluation forms and feedbacks: submitting the questionnaires and asking questions about the experience at the living library.
  7. Sharing debriefing methods
    • Keeping in mind that readers might need to release emotions. Librarians should be ready to suggest some activities to go back to a neutral emotional state. (for instance, chatting with somebody, having a test, drawing, going for a walk,..).

EVALUATION

  1. Summarizing Pros and cons of the event.
  2. Collecting suggestions for the next Living library.
  3. Sharing the experience of being a librarian with the next librarians: giving hints and suggestions.
Our team at work

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