
At a Human Library event at the Santa Monica Public Library, a police detective “book” talks to two “readers.”
Beyond Books: Libraries Lend Fishing Poles, Pans And People
August 13, 2013
http://www.npr.org/2013/08/13/211697593/beyond-books-libraries-lend-fishing-poles-pans-and-people
“There are people in the community who say, ‘I’m an expert at electronics or plumbing. So put me in the catalog,’ ” says Barbara Stripling, president of the American Library Association.
She says locals tell libraries, ” ‘If somebody has a question that I can help answer, they can check me out.’ ”
Libraries that are loaning out people often refer to them as “human books.”
Sometimes they even leave off the word “human,” and give them catalog numbers.