EUKN - Netherlands - Mensenbieb - A people’s library

Mensenbieb - A people’s library

Introduction

The project provides an alternative approach to address prejudice and discrimination, showing that simplicity and humour are excellent tools to address serious subjects.

Problem

This project addresses the issues of prejudice and discrimination in a positive, non judgemental way.

Description

The Mensenbieb stimulates contact between different groups of people and gets people talking about their own prejudices. Different focuses are possible. For example, implementing organisations can choose to focus on integration, by primarily bringing together people of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Alternatively, a wider focus is possible, looking at prejudices at many different levels and its impact on many different groups (men, women, homosexuals, handicapped etc).

Approach

Many people lend books from libraries in order to learn and increase knowledge. In this project, you are encouraged to lend a person in order to learn something new and to test your prejudices. A group of volunteers with different cultural and ethnic backgrounds come together to be “lent out” to interested public. This can take place in diverse settings: in a mobile library, in a library, in a café, in a school etc, depending on the exact target group.Using sandwich boards and stickers, with prejudices ranging from “blonds are dumb” and “women can’t drive” to “foreigners don’t want to integrate” and “Muslims are extremists”, the general public is encouraged to enter into dialogue about prejudices and to meet with different volunteers to test their ideas. The motto is: “Don’t lend somebody else’s point of view: judge for yourself”.

The project is marketed in a creative and cost-efficient way. The concept of “lending” people out for discussions is an attractive one for the media. A lot of effort is therefore applied in the communication and marketing sphere, and resulted in enormous media success and widespread dissemination of this idea.

Results

More than 1000 visitors to the “library” during 5 festivals.
Spontaneous contact between diverse groups of people who wouldn’t normally come together, stimulating open dialogue on subjects which are sometimes difficult to brace.
Millions of people in the Netherlands have one way or another heard about the project (via newspapers, national TV, radio, websites etc).
Spontaneous debate and discussion has arisen throughout the Netherlands via internet and web logs on the topic of prejudices.

Resources used

Volunteers to stimulate public to enter into dialogue.
Volunteers who are “lent out” for discussions.
Various communication tools (flexible according to target group and setting in which projects is carried out).

Contact info

Enova Emancipation Bureau Drenthe
http://www.mensenbieb.nl
Kim Tsai, tel. +31 (0)592 316 865

Project start date

01/05/2005

Planned end date

01/11/2005

Links

Enova Emancipation Bureau Drenthe

Project description (PDF, Dut, 95 KB)

Document type

case

Themes

Urban Policy > Social inclusion & integration

Keywords

Integration of social groups