Danielle Gertner is excited for the day her Warrington Welcome students will learn from people, not paper.
UF’s Warrington College of Business Administration is starting a “Human Library” — a library where community members talk about different topics, including oppression, stereotypes and social stigmas. Warrington is looking for Gainesville residents to be “books” and share their stories for the first Human Library on March 10.
Gertner, a UF business administration senior, said she is a peer leader for Warrington Welcome, a class that introduces freshman business students to the college. She helped plan the Human Library. The college started planning the library in June after a former faculty member mentioned how successful the program was at Illinois State University, said Leigh Smadbeck, an academic adviser and career coach at the Heavener School of Business.
“It works like a regular library,” she said.
When students “borrow books,” they will sit in small circles of three to eight students and listen to a story told by a speaker, she said.
“The books are humans that want to share their story about hardship and, in some cases, oppression,” Smadbeck said.
They already have speakers signed up to talk about alcoholism and being a first-generation student, she said.
“Currently, we’re still in the pilot, so we’re still trying to figure out what it looks like,” Smadbeck said.
While the program grows, Gertner, 21, said she hopes to see books on mental disabilities at the Human Library. She hopes students also find topics they’re interested in and wants to see which speakers they find most interesting.
“I think everything starts off small,” she said.
Though the Human Library is only open to students in Warrington Welcome, Gertner said she hopes it can grow to be open to all of UF.
“If you have questions about a book, you can’t always call the author, but in this case you can,” she said.
