CULTURE | Library launches “borrow a bias” rent-a-person program in Sweden.

Got “a gay” in your life? You know, one of those handy sentient stereotypes to cart around?

Not to worry. Thanks to a new program offered by the Malmö City Library, Sweden, as of this weekend, you can borrow one.

That’s right, you can “borrow” a human person.

Not into the idea of getting a pocket gay of your very own? You can also get your hands on a journalist. Or an imam, a Dane, or a Muslim woman. Go ahead and borrow a member of the Romany community, too! (The racist term you may know for the Romany people is “gypsy” by the way.) Believe it or not, it’s all in the service of social justice goodness.

Dubbed the “borrow a bias” project, the new “living library” is supposed to fight stereotypes.

How does this bizarre program work? It’s supposedly just like borrowing a book from the reference section. Only the loan period is short. Library patrons get only 45 minutes with their person of choice, and those 45 minutes must be spent on library premises – at the building’s outdoor café.

The borrowed individual talks to the patron, using the time to try to dispel any negative stereotypes, prejudices, and misconceptions. That’s the aim, anyway. It’s all supposed to promote diversity.

Surprisingly the Malmö City Library “borrow a bias” project is not the first of its kind.

It reportedly takes its inspiration from another similar initiative happening in the Nørrebro neighbourhood of Copenhagen – said to be one of the most ethnically diverse areas of the city.

Millenium trilogy #1, 2005 (original Swedish cover).

Though Sweden has developed a reputation for being a progressive country in general (it passed a constitutional amendment about “unfavourable speech” in 2002, which protects people from negative verbal attacks related to sexual orientation, and gay marriage has been legal in the country since 1995), as a nation, it is not without its problems. [Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo published in August of 2005, with the original title in Swedish being Män som hatar kvinnor; in English, Men Who Hate Women. Not for nothing.]

The Malmö City Library considers cultural isolation to be a problem in the area. Library officials have reportedly said that they hope the project will facilitate interaction between people who might not otherwise meet, thus better informing the public about who those people really are.

I’m not sure about the wisdom behind forcing already-marginalized people to educate every asshole with a library card who may wish to waste their time, but perhaps “force” is the wrong word. I’m sure the “books” in question have some choice in the matter? One would hope.

We don’t yet know if late fees will apply, or how much they’ll be.

Sidebar

The Malmö City Library “borrow a bias” living loans project is just one of the many programs supported by the Progressive Librarians Organization, whose mandate includes encouraging “the exploration of alternative models of human services” and a commitment “to social justice, equality, human welfare, and the development of cultural democracy.”

A version of this piece published in Dose, August 18, 2005. See clipping below. More culture and trend pieces are here.

Published in Dose, August 18, 2005.