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| 18/01/2009 |
Would you like to be a UNISON Living Library Book? |
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At a Living Library, the 'books' are people who experience prejudice or disadvantage. Individual 'readers' come and borrow a 'book' for a limited period of time. The aim of the Living Library is to challenge attitudes and further understanding through providing a safe environment in which people can ask questions.
UNISON North West is planning to organise Living Library events in 2009 as part of our work to promote community cohesion and pursue our equalities agenda. Living Library events can be held in various venues such as schools, workplaces or 'real' public libraries. Amongst the 'books' available to borrow at previous events have been: a migrant worker, a gay man, a police officer, a person with an eating disorder and a blind person. These are just examples, and many more prejudices could be explored and challenged through Living Books.
We are looking for UNISON members to volunteer to be 'Living Books'. You need to be prepared to talk about an element of yourself that others may hold a prejudice about or that could be seen as being a source of disadvantage. This could be any aspect of your background, lifestyle, employment, belief or identity. We are looking for lots of volunteers to be Living Books with a wide variety of stories. You will receive training on how to be a Living Book before taking part in any events. There are also a limited number of secondment opportunities available for members who would like to take a fuller role in the organisation of the Living Library project.
If you would like to express an interest in taking part in this unusual but worth-while initiative, or if you would like more information, please contact Helen Titherington at the Regional Centre h.titherington@unison.co.uk),
0161 661 6731).
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CONTACT DETAILS
• To find out more about membership benefits contact our helpline, UNISONdirect on 0845 355 0845. Lines are open 6am-midnight Mon to Fri and 9am-4pm Sat.
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