The living library started in Denmark at the festival of Roskilde in 2000. It was initiated by the youth organisation ”Stop volden” (”Stop the violence”). Since 2005 the idea of lending a human being who represents a prejudice has also become a practice in a few public libraries in Sweden. I found it interesting to analyse the living library in relation to the mission of diversity in the public library. The concept of the living library and its rhetorics about prejudices and meetings are analysed from The Living Library Organiser’s Guide, published by the Nordic council of Ministers. The rhetorics are related to the practice in the public library, methodologically based on an inquiry and interviews with four librarians and one living book. The results from my research indicate that the living library is part of the politics of cultural diversity, a creed that supports the idea of recognizing diverse cultures in order to gain knowledge, understanding and a peaceful coexistence in society. The main impression of the rhetorics of the handbook indicates however that the cultural representation of the event is essential and static. The other as different and opposed to an implicit norm is therefore reproduced. The public library however shows a different way where the representation of stereotypes is less obvious and the actual meeting between human beings is essential. The results from this study indicate that the living library is a way for the public library to market itself as an organisation associated with human rights and a new exciting image.

The purpose of this study is to examine the phenomenon “Living library”, where people are lent out instead of books. First it is looked into what the Living library means to the person who is borrowing a living book and what it means to the living book itself. Than the Living library is put in a public library context. This is done through a case study of the city library of Helsingborg and the city library of Malmö. The theoretical framework consists of an analysis model of the public library constructed by Andersson and Skot-Hansen. Interviews are conducted in order to se what the Living library means to the borrower and to the living book. Text analysis is done in order to see if the intention of the Living library can be a part of the public library activity and the public library’s role in the society. The result indicates that the Living library has several meanings to the borrower and the living book. This in turn can be related to the public library as a centre of knowledge, a centre of culture and a social centre according to Andersson’s and Skot-Hansen’s analysis model. It can also be assumed that the living library gives opportunities to sense making participation. The intention of the Living library is to struggle against prejudice. This is done through knowledge, which can be related to the public library as a center of knowledge according to Andersson’s and Skot Hansen’s analysis model. The Living library can also be a part of the public library’s democratic role in the society because of their common interest in human rights. / Uppsatsnivå: D