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About Us

As Canadian life expectancies are increasing, Canadians are likely to live longer, healthier lives, creating an opportunity for all of us. By elevating the critical importance of being age-inclusive in language and approaches, and becoming aware of biases, data shows that we are more likely to treat people fairly. The Human Library is a library of people. A “Book” is a person that volunteers to represent a marginalized group in the community and, based on their personal experiences, can answer questions from “Readers” to help challenge stereotypes understood about a given topic. Reading sessions are short-term (20–30 minutes), face-to-face, discretely supervised conversations between the ‘Books’ and ‘Readers’

What is a Human Library?

Human libraries are a global movement, where people called ‘Books’ are checked out to ‘Readers’. The topics and stories shared by Human Books are intended to stimulate conversations and challenge the stereotypes that many people share about various identities, issues, and experiences. Human libraries began in Denmark and are now found in over 80 countries in libraries, but also schools, businesses, and many other settings.

What is Unjudge Aging?

Unjudge Aging is a human library focusing on experiences of aging. Readers are invited to sit down with an older person for 20-30mins who will share their personal stories about aging. It is also a research project investigating the role of a human library focused on aging as a model to address ageism.

What is Ageism?

Ageism is stereotyping or discrimination against people based on their age. In Canada, research shows six in ten (63%) older persons over age 66 say they have been treated unfairly because of their age. Seven-in-ten (71%) agree that Canadian society values younger generations more than older
generations. One-in-five (21%) Canadians say older adults are a burden on society.

Who Are We?

Unjudge Aging is a project led by Dr Lynn McDonald, Scientific Director at the National Initiative for the Care of the Elderly (NICE) and Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto, and organized in collaboration with the Toronto Public Library, the City of Toronto, and the Institute for Life Course and Aging (ILCA). The planning committee gratefully acknowledges the New Horizons for Seniors grant funding this project.

Unjudge Aging Planning Committee:

Meena Bhardwaj

Renee Climans

Moesha Dewan

Esme Fuller-Thomson

Sandra Hirst

Mary Hynes

Susan Lang

Lynn McDonald

Elsa Marziali

Vanessa Sparks

Craig Todd-Langille

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