Part of the conversation.
temporarily suspended, people feel safe opening up. At the same time, they know that they can ask very direct questions and really try to understand each other’s perspective. There’s also always a lot of exchanges happening in the background, when Books borrow each other in an in- formal way, which leads to very interest- ing discussions.
When I decided to run the first event, I knew I wanted to gather as much feedback from visitors as possible. I wanted to see what their reactions would be, and test if it’s really working in the way I was hoping for on campus. I gave out paper feedback forms, and also recorded short videos with people’s reactions and took photos, where the visitors leaving a conversation were asked to summarise their experience in a few words, which they wrote down on a clipboard. There is something quite powerful in those images.
Regular feedback
The feedback from readers was great and everyone said that they would love to see it organised again, so I decided to make it a regular event and open it to the wider community. My volunteers also enjoyed the day and most of them were happy to participate in future events.
Reader feedback
“I didn’t realise [tattooed professional] would still experience prejudice” “So inspiring! Made my day!
“Made me realise how much [non-binary people] get stigmatised”
“I think society would work better with more questions and fewer assumptions”
“You learn so much about yourself” (student volunteer)
“I think it’s a real credit to the University”
Student volunteer feedback “I liked the idea of the event having
March 2020 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL 29
seen it advertised in previous years, so I was glad to finally get involved”
Opening up – Maisha, one of the human “books”. Book feedback
“Seeing people having really deep conver- sations was amazing”
“Helps you to feel included and engaged.”
“I wanted to help battle stereotypes and share my experiences”
“An exciting opportunity to share ideas and viewpoints!”
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