AHEAD Association implemented two Living Library events: a first one on Saturday the 1st June and a second one the 15th June 2019 coinciding with the events celebrating the World Refugee Week in Barcelona.
Both Living Library events took part in the old town of Barcelona, in Raval neighbourhood, in a medieval cloister and current open gardens of the National Library of Catalonia. The venue, with trees and an ornamental fountain created a relaxing atmosphere where Human Books and readers could interact and concentrate in their dialogues.
Prior the Living Library events, 13 preparatory meetings and workshops took place with the local coordination team, librarians, the Human Books and the logistical team – separately by these groups and altogether. The local partners of the multiplier events were: The National Library of Catalonia, the Municipality of Barcelona, the Federation of organisations for Global Justice, The Library of Raval and Journalistic Advisory Service.
The Local team was formed by 34 persons that supported the event as librarians, facilitators, human books and translators. The implementation of two events in the public space brought over 200 readers to the Living Libraries. The evaluation of the results underlines the success in terms of deconstructing stereotypes and prejudices towards migrants and refugees, and the relevance of the living library methodology to reach a broad public.