Being read
Human libraries
A listening - reading - mediation activity
Have you ever heard of human libraries? They are libraries where you can "borrow" a person, instead of a book, and listen to their story for about 20 minutes. The idea is to challenge prejudice and get to know other people's stories.
Watch this video about human libraries. Which "books" would you like to "read"?
Go to the next page to play a game.
Do you remember some of the titles of the living books? Play this memory game to check.
Go to the next page for an exercise.
Listen again and try a fill-in-the gaps exercise. Click here.
When you finish, go to the next page for another video.
Watch the video to see how a living library session develops.
Go to the next page for an exercise
Answer the multiple choice questions. You can listen to the recording again if you need.
Some people have amazing stories to tell. They would make for very interesting books! Go to the next page and choose a story, or read the story your teacher tells you. Imagine this actually happened to you and tell someone else.
I lived in a tree for two years
I have a phobia of sound
I am a quadruplet
I woke up from a coma speaking French
I found my identical twin on Youtube
I gave birth in an Uber
I can't stop stealing
These stories are taken from The Guardian.
Were you listening carefully? Can you guess which stories these sentences come from?
Wary of putting anyone else at risk, I vowed to go it alone.
Our house was noisy, from playing or squabbling.
At school I was intelligent, popular and funny; I would make people laugh. At home I was miserable.
I’m pretty sure Richard gave him a five-star rating.
Her feet looked tiny and I realised mine must be, too.
When I started coming round I was moved to my local hospital
I'd love to live near a motorway: the constant hum of traffic would be soothing to me.
If you want, you can leave a comment about the activity or about the stories here.
You can watch the whole Being Read video here. You won't regret it!
And you can read more amazing stories from The Guardian here.
Human libraries
Carmen O
Created on December 18, 2023
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Transcript
Being read
Human libraries
A listening - reading - mediation activity
Have you ever heard of human libraries? They are libraries where you can "borrow" a person, instead of a book, and listen to their story for about 20 minutes. The idea is to challenge prejudice and get to know other people's stories.
Watch this video about human libraries. Which "books" would you like to "read"?
Go to the next page to play a game.
Do you remember some of the titles of the living books? Play this memory game to check.
Go to the next page for an exercise.
Listen again and try a fill-in-the gaps exercise. Click here.
When you finish, go to the next page for another video.
Watch the video to see how a living library session develops.
Go to the next page for an exercise
Answer the multiple choice questions. You can listen to the recording again if you need.
Some people have amazing stories to tell. They would make for very interesting books! Go to the next page and choose a story, or read the story your teacher tells you. Imagine this actually happened to you and tell someone else.
I lived in a tree for two years
I have a phobia of sound
I am a quadruplet
I woke up from a coma speaking French
I found my identical twin on Youtube
I gave birth in an Uber
I can't stop stealing
These stories are taken from The Guardian.
Were you listening carefully? Can you guess which stories these sentences come from?
Wary of putting anyone else at risk, I vowed to go it alone.
Our house was noisy, from playing or squabbling.
At school I was intelligent, popular and funny; I would make people laugh. At home I was miserable.
I’m pretty sure Richard gave him a five-star rating.
Her feet looked tiny and I realised mine must be, too.
When I started coming round I was moved to my local hospital
I'd love to live near a motorway: the constant hum of traffic would be soothing to me.
If you want, you can leave a comment about the activity or about the stories here.
You can watch the whole Being Read video here. You won't regret it!
And you can read more amazing stories from The Guardian here.