Job Well Done: The Way We Worked.

 

Vanishing jobs, skills and crafts.   

A Human Living Library Event for the New South Wales Seniors Festival

They are serious for the camera, but what did they get up to in their off times?  

Photo credit: Metro Transportation Library and Archive   ( 1958)"LAMTA - PBX Switchboard MTA_0067" by is licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Did you ever wonder what it was like to be a dunny man?  What did telephone operators get up to when the phones weren’t ringing?  Where did spice sellers in Iran get their stock?

Or, are you fascinated by Vietnamese or Persian traditional craft? Are you interested in learning some traditional Indigenous Australian life skills?

If you said 'yes', then this is the event for you!  

Come along to our Human Living Library and be a “Reader” of some of our “Books” in a listen about past jobs and cultural crafts that you might have never thought about. 

Human Living Libraries are a phenomenon that originated in Denmark in 2000 and have been staged by libraries around the world. Their goals are to promote social change by challenging stereotypes and reducing social stigmas.  This works by opening up a dialogue between people to allow conversations that normally don't happen.  Having these conversations promotes a wider understanding of human diversity and a realization that our similarities are greater than our differences.

During our Pearl Cove Library Human Living Library event the "Books" are our local community members who act as interactive "books" in short one-on-one sessions who are "checked out" by "readers" for an in-depth conversation around specific themes.

The theme of this session will be a lighter one with a look at social changes via a focus on jobs and skills that have been left behind through the stories of the people who worked them.  These people are both the older members of the community, but also those who now call Australia "home" and have had to leave much of their physical culture behind.  Learning their stories will build bridges to our past.

Click here to learn more about the Living Human Library

 Saturday, 2 April 2022

10:00 am to 3:30 pm
The Pearl Room, Pearl Cove Main Library
$10.00 per participant

Contact details for further questions: Catherine Gilbert: 2137 8694

or email the Pearl Cove Library Pearlcovelibrary@nsw.gov.au

 Bookings Open 15 March Online at: the Pearl Cove Human Library Eventbrite or on the day (depending on availability) but book early to avoid disappointment!

Our line-up includes an
·         Indigenous Australian with knowledge of cultural                                 practices
·         Switchboard operator
·         Dunny man
·         Movie projectionist
·         Drover
·         Calculator (Human!)
·         Hmong weaver,
·         Vietnamese duck shell lacquer-ware artisan
·        ( Former) Iranian spice seller
·        Persian miniature painter

Are you interested in reading more about jobs that no longer exist?    24 Jobs That No Longer Exist | Mental Floss 

Tradtional Crafts of Vetnam?

Traditional handicrafts of Vietnam

Crafts of Iran?

CRAFTS – Encyclopaedia Iranica (iranicaonline.org) 

Catherine Gilbert

Pearl Cove Library presents: The Power of Community – a Human Living Library Event

     What is a Human Living Library?

The basic concept of Human Living Libraries is self-explanatory: the books can be any one person who is willing to tell their personal story or a faction of their own story in a one-on-one conversation, which normally goes on for no shorter than thirty minutes, as one can hardly have a meaningful conversation about anything in less time than that.

The first Human Living Libraries event was part of a project for Roskilde Festival in Copenhagen in 2000. Their goal was to challenge stereotypes and talk about subjects often considered taboo.

More information about this global initiative: Human Living Library website

Credit: Kate Lundy via flickr

    About the event

This event is featuring the following four human books of different minority backgrounds living in Australia, the theme of the event is combating isolation, unemployment, racism, cultural differences and general loneliness that comes with belonging to a minority group and the power of community raising up to lend a helping hand. This event is to bring culturally diverse people together to start a conversation and make a change, as it has been proven in the past that when the sons and daughters of many cultures work together is when the real magic happens.

More information about this global observance: United Nations website

.

    About the books

One of the books is a first generation Chinese migrant who has built a restaurant franchise in the region,
Our second book is an Indigenous Australian musician who busks for a living and teaches music to children in his community (and is married to a first generation European migrant, thus knows each side of being part of a minority extremely well),
Our third book is Iranian, whose family fled Iran in the early 2000s, she is completing her doctorate through a scholarship, rising to success from poverty and hardship,
Our fourth living book is from the UK, is a university professor in his 50s and has the knowledge of what it is like to migrate to Australia from an English speaking country.

The event takes place on Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development Day.

When:                               21st May 2022
What time:                       9:00am to 6:00pm
Where:                              Pearl Cove Library, Pearl Room

Tickets:                             $10/person
Bookings essential at:      Eventbrite or at the Library

Conditions of entry:        This event is CovidSafe.
                                           Facemasks and Vaccination Certificates are a must.

Refreshments:                  There will be water, coffee, tea, biscuits and cultural finger food available at                                                           the event (this is included in the price).

Age bracket:                     14 and over welcome!

Zsófia Boltos-Varga, 807088149

Welcome to Australia

 

                Welcome to Australia 

To celebrate Refugee Week, Pearl Cove Library is hosting an event that gives you a chance to engage in a chat one-on-one with a refugee about their experiences coming to Australia. 

We would love you to join us for this occasion.

Date: 22nd June 2021

Time: 11am - 1.30pm

Venue: The Pearl Room, Pearl Cove Library

Light refreshments available.

Please reserve your spot through Eventbrite.

We welcome the opportunity to learn more about our four speakers or "human books" who represent the Refugee community and have volunteered to participate in this Human Library event. We encourage you to join us, meet our human books and engage in a respectful and interesting conversation.

Our human books are:

Peter Bol                      Australian Olympian.

Behrouz Boochani       Author, journalist, film-maker.

Lowitja O'Donoghue    Advocate for indigenous rights,    

                                    Member of Order of  Australia, 

                                     Australian of the Year, and  

                                     Australian National Treasure.

Samah Shda                International advocate for refugee rights, 

                                     Public speaker for Refugee Council.

The Human Library started in Denmark in 2000, and is based on the concept that everyone has a story to tell and can be a “human book”. 

The intent is for people to loan out a “human book” as you would in a library and have a respectful conversation. 

The aim behind the Human Library concept is to reduce prejudice, judgement, improve knowledge and empathy through conversation.

Please contact Pearl Cove Library with any further enquiries or booking assistance.

contact@pearlcove.library.com

ph: 2345 6789

Photo credit: Lukens, A. 2019. Strategy Movement Core Team. Wikimedia Commons.

Image credit: Human Library. 2021. 

Catherine. M. Baird 

Diploma student - Library and Information Services 

The day the books come to life

Did you ever find yourself wondering what life in another country might look like? Or how other cultures view local customs? Here’s your chance: “Hear their story” is a human library event where you can talk to real individuals with various backgrounds and amazing experiences to share.

At its core, a human library is an event where people can borrow “living books”, usually volunteers with various backgrounds or representatives of certain groups and, as such, very interesting stories to tell. Human books can be interacted with and present the “reader” with an opportunity to ask specific questions or engage in meaningful conversation.

“Hear their story” focuses on diversity and inclusiveness and is an amazing opportunity to engage with a rich, growing cultural community.

The event is part of Harmony Week, a celebration of Australia’s multiculturalism which promotes respect and belonging for everyone, regardless of their background.

Another part of this event is the “Common Grounds” exhibition, which showcases paintings and photographs presented and explained by the artists themselves. It's a chance to get a peek inside an artist’s mindset and get a better understanding of their art and its meaning.

There will be 10 “living books” available at the event, from official NSW Government and Community representatives to refugees and artists. Here are some of them

• Omar Al Kassab - a Syrian refugee, activist and humanitarian campaigner
• Annette Webb - an Aboriginal Dunghetti artist born in Sydney
• Nasim Nasr - an Iranian artist and photographer
• Iman Shirinia -  an Iranian refugee, now member of the ACT Parks Rural Fire Brigade.

Just book your slot below, show up, pick a “book” and listen. It’s as easy as talking to any other person, no previous experience required but a certain amount of curiosity is encouraged 😉

Each person that signs up will have a dedicated 30 minute slot with a human book of their choosing. The number of available slots is limited so bookings are essential.

See you then!

Alis-Iuliana Jitarescu

⏰When: Monday, March 22, 2022, 12pm - 3pm

🗺 Where: Pearl Cove Library, The Pearl Rom

👉 Bookings: contact@pearlcovelibrary.com.au

📭 Contact:

Event manager

Maria Smith

Tel: 0423 654 789

Email: m.smith@pearlcovelibrary.com.au

Harmony day

Tell me about your cultural story? 

What is your favourite dish?

Sourced: 

Chinese restaurant. (2020, June 2). Wikimedia
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: China_rest_Ldz_(1).jpg

Attributed to creative commons
MOs810 / CC by- SA (https://creativecommons.org/licences/by-sa/4.0)

What is the event? - Harmony day event

Where - Pearl Cove library

When - 18th March 2020

Time - 9am to 2pm

Cost - Free

Bookings and registration can be made on Eventbrite link below

www.eventbrite.com/pearlcove_library/harmony day/March 2020

Please note the following in registration before 10th March 2020.

Human living library information

https://www.humanlibraryaus.org/

Childminding is included. Please state you need childminding for your children in Eventbrite.

Please note select a vegetation option if you have any food allergies for lunch and afternoon tea catering. 

Event Agenda

Come to our Harmony day on 18th March 2020 at Pearl Cove library from 9am  to 2pm.

Be welcomed by Gurrumul the Aboriginal musician. Listen to the following speakers about their cultural stories.

Human living library speaker 1 - Melina Marchetta

Human living library speaker 2 - Anh Do 

Human living library speaker 3 - Saroo Brierley.

All three speakers will be speaking in separate time slots with breaks. The time periods include:

Registration 9am to 10am

Speakers time slot 1 - 10.15am to 11am

Speakers time slot 2 - 11 am-11.30pm

Morning tea break (11.30am to 11.45pm)

Speakers time slot 3 - 12pm-12.45pm

Lunch break  (1pm to 1.30pm)

Speakers time slot 4 - 1.30pm to 1.45pm

Online Feedback time 1.45 pm to 2pm 

Break up over tea and biscuits and talk about your cultural dish, your favourite cultural author and story behind that dish. 

ISAAC CHENG