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To sign up on Eventbrite: (click here)
Event information:
Venue: The Storey
Address: The Storey, Meeting House Lane, Lancaster, LA1 1TH
Date: Thursday, 26th January 2023
Time: 10 am – 3pm
Refreshments and lunch provided
Who we’re inviting:
Professionals (health and social care, education and research) who have expressed an interest in collaborating with us, have experience of hosting living libraries or are working with a well-suited organisation to host a living library.
Workshop agenda:
-Review the background and rationale for the living library model
-Share the findings of research into what a living library can offer, and how it works
-Invite you to be a reader in a living library so you can experience this for yourself
-Workshop ideas with you about the benefits and challenges of hosting a living library in your work context.
You can find out more about our work by visiting the project website: (click here)
You can download a copy of the implementation guide through Qualtrics: (click here)
What is a living library?
In a living library, people are employed as living books and are trained and supported to share their experiences in one-to-one conversations. Readers are people seeking to learn about mental health to help themselves, a loved one, or they might be staff. Readers choose a book based on a short author summary and have a conversation with the book. Readers are encouraged to ask questions to create an interactive dialogue between the books and readers. The idea is to have conversations that draw on lived experience to inform, challenge our preconceptions and change the way we think. Everyone within the library is equal and books can choose to decline answering any of the readers questions if they so wish. Books can be employed flexibly allowing a broad range of people to contribute across ethnic, gender, sexuality and age groups, and including those in work or with caring responsibilities.
We can see exciting opportunities for the living library model to support people experiencing mental health difficulties across a range of contexts including among students, the general public, veterans and in primary care, mental health services, and inpatient, prison and forensic settings. It also has great potential to support the mental health training of people supporting mental health including health care and allied professionals, and those in education. Existing libraries and librarians are particularly well placed to host living libraries.
We really look forward to seeing you then.
If you have any further questions then please send me an email: c.friedrich@lancaster.ac.uk
Best wishes,
Claire