Living Library Portugal – Ryan’s story

I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I received the joining instructions for “The Living Library”. The description had seemed quite vague and didn’t seem to give too much away so I was a little bit in the dark about what my role would be and how I’d benefit from the project. Despite this, I was still very excited for the opportunity to go and do something like this in another country and I was confident that I’d have a great experience.

The first few days were quite slow to get going and were mainly spent getting to know the group through the usual activities, games and exercises. We spent the remaining days planning in the lead up to the Living Library event.

The group was split into 3 smaller teams consisting of Communication, Organisation and “Librarians”. The role of the Librarian was the general welfare of the “Book” (a person who was going to be telling their story) and producing short summaries for each person to go in a public catalogue.

The event was a success and the concept and purpose of the Living Library became clear to all, I think. For me, personally, I’ve learnt the influence that a powerful story can have on others and I believe there are so many more ways in which this could be explored through various media and outlets.

Having spoken to some of the other members of the group, we hope to arrange our own event or project and wish to bring something similar to life with our own influence.

Everything else was just fantastic. Food was lovely, the hotel was really nice and the training team couldn’t have been more friendly and accommodating.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Portalegre (and Lisbon!) and would like to give a big thank you to Momentum for this opportunity.