Mission
Since the early 2000’s, human libraries have spanned the globe, connecting people with diverse experiences (known as “Human Books”) to the people who want to hear their stories. As General Practitioners, we are natural storytelling hubs. People come to us with every possible health question under the sun, and as community experts it is our responsibility to give them the best answer possible. We engage with Human Books every day, yet it can be a struggle to find exactly the right human book for an occasion.
We formed the GP Living Library to help people locate exactly the right GP for their next project. We aim to collect Human Books all in one place, so that anybody in need of a community expert can find a GP with perfectly relevant lived experiences or specialisations. Our hope is that this will broaden the range of GPs who are asked to represent our healthcare community, enabling deeper understandings and greater diversity in health events Australia-wide.
Categories of Accessible Experts
We aim to provide accessible experts for a range of requests, generating a network of diverse experiences in the Australian health world
Speaking Engagements
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One of the common struggles in organising conferences is ensuring an adequately diverse panel of experts. The profiles of our Human Books have easily-searchable tags listing their areas of expertise, and our Living Librarian helps to promote events which enable Human Books with diverse life experiences to share their unique perspectives.
Media Enquiries
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We understand that some issues of media concern require a healthcare expert - so why not contact an accessible expert? Our project provides a simple, effective, and transparent way to find and contact an accessible expert who specialises in the issue of the day. Either browse our shelves, or ask our Living Librarian to find a Human Book that suits your needs.
GP Peer support
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Some issues in General Practice are difficult to deconstruct in isolation. Our network can provide GPs with a way to contact each other to collaborate in problem-solving, either by using our private-facing Facebook group or by browsing our Human Books to find specific mentors.
The Wisdom-Seeking Series
In 2022, we’re trying something new.
The Wisdom-Seeking Series will run fortnightly workshops between January and May, co-facilitated by guest experts who will bring diverse perspectives to the complex questions in general practice and mental health care. With a more interactive format than a traditional workshop, each episode will encourage attendees to participate in exploring the nuanced aspects of the challenges in general practice.
Becoming a Human Book
The GP Living Library operates on an elective basis. We only list GPs who have acknowledged a willingness to be contacted, by filling in our volunteer form, and by reviewing and accepting their listing.
Our listings are designed to filter GPs in and out of searches. Therefore, if you are a GP who is willing to become a human book, it is important to let us know what type of projects you are interested in. We will make sure your bio includes the appropriate key terms, and you will have an opportunity to review your bio before it is posted.
We understand that your involvement in some projects may be subject to your availability. To prevent burnout in our busier Human Books, our Living Librarian moderates all requests to ensure that there are always alternative options if you are unable to participate in a project.
When contacting a Human Book through our site, requests are first moderated and filtered for spam by our Living Librarian, before being relayed to the relevant contact. After this relay, your conversation will remain under your own and your conversationalist’s management, as we do not moderate any contact beyond the initial relay.
Borrowing a Human Book
If you are looking for a GP with a clinical interest that matches your project, you can either browse all of our Human Books here, or use the search bar to find either a specific Human Book, or any book with specific clinical interests. Search terms work best when they are brief, and could include anything from type of event (such as conference) to type of issue (such as Indigenous health). You can find some suggested search terms here in order to streamline your search process.
We believe that lived experiences are a valuable and under-utilised resource, and highly recommend engaging with Human Books who can provide the unique perspective that results from a lived experience. Given the often sensitive and complex nature of lived experiences, this aspect of our catalogue is maintained confidentially by a Living Librarian, who will recommend Books based on the nature of your project, when contacted.
When contacting a Human Book through our site, requests are first moderated and filtered for spam by our Living Librarian, before being relayed to the relevant contact. After this relay, your conversation will remain under your own and your conversationalist’s management, as we do not moderate any contact beyond the initial relay.
#GPsCan
One of GPLL’s Human Books Dr. Wendy Burton curates a feed of lived experiences through her project GPs Can. Take a look below for recent tweets to see up-to-date GP positivity!
Want to contribute to the project?
Be a human book
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Feed a librarian
