A new initiative to boost community cohesion involves real people acting as ‘books’ in their local libraries, with the public meeting and learning from them. Rob Whiteman describes how the idea worked out in his London borough

Libraries have always been places which introduce people to a wider world of opportunities, skills and experiences. 
But what if you could do more than read about the experiences of others. What if you could find out from them, at first hand?
One of the biggest challenges facing us in terms of community cohesion is that people in localities don’t talk to each other any more – how many of us know all our neighbours? 
In a borough whose demographics are as fast-changing as Barking and Dagenham, that’s a real issue, as people from different ages and ethnic groups are existing side by side, but with little understanding of each other. 
Fear comes to fill the gap where, in earlier generations, understanding and mutual support used to be.
We know from talking with local residents that they yearn for the old days, when everyone knew and looked out for each other – but they don’t know the people who have recently moved into their road, and they don’t know how to get to know them. 
Barking’s Central Library – inside the Barking Learning Centre – recently hosted an event called ‘Living libraries’ – designed to make it easier for local residents to get talking to others with whom they would never normally get into conversation. 
Eighteen ‘books’ – normal people with local connections and interesting lives – were available to be ‘borrowed’ for periods of 20 minutes at a time – although, in many instances, the conversations went on for much longer.
Book borrowers were a combination of local people attracted by the publicity, and members of our home library service who we regularly transport into the library for a coffee and a chat.
I was one of those books, as was Cllr Bob Little, our deputy leader.
In addition, there was a paralympic skier, a recovering drug addict, a Muslim, an architect, a transgender female and an atheist – a very diverse list. 
I found it fascinating how easily, once an opportunity is created, a conversation can kick off, and how we are all interested in each other as human beings. The ‘readers’  thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and the books valued the opportunity to put their points across in a friendly, non-threatening environment.
Nazeem Ullah, general manager of the Barking Learning Centre, said: ‘At one point, I asked a 92-year-old woman, Have you ever talked to a Muslim before?, and she said, no.
I think our conversation demonstrated to her, powerfully, that at heart, we have much in common.’
We are already planning our next event.
We’re aiming to link in with schools as well as our older readers to increase the potential for inter-generational conversations.
We’re also delighted to be working closely with CLG, which is looking to encourage the wider roll-out of living libraries across the country.
This has included providing advice and support to local authorities in Gloucestershire and Birmingham  and Surrey Football Association, with a view to testing the concept in a variety of settings and developing case studies for wider dissemination.
We’re proud and excited to be using the potential that libraries offer to build connections between our communities.
Rob Whiteman is chief executive of Barking and Dagenham LBC