EMBEDDING CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) ACTIVITIES IN AN ACADEMIC LIBRARY: HIGHLIGHTS ON THE SOCIAL ASPECTS OF THE HUMAN LIBRARY

Joseph  M. Yap,; Donna Lyn  G. Labangon,

EMBEDDING CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) ACTIVITIES IN AN ACADEMIC LIBRARY: HIGHLIGHTS ON THE SOCIAL ASPECTS OF THE HUMAN LIBRARY

Abstract:

One dimension of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the social responsibility. At De La Salle University (DLSU), the libraries conduct outreach programs that may be considered CSR activities. For instance, the library donates books to the less privileged schools and offers training programs that can be of use to such libraries and its personnel. Recently, the libraries launched its program called the Human Library. The human library provides an innovative way to experience a different kind of reading which encourages understanding by engaging the community to participate and to interact with the "human book." The human library transforms its readers to be sensitive to any form of prejudice, stereotyping, discrimination or bias. Designed to have real humans as "books" to interact with the readers in promoting tolerant individuals, the human library aims to lessen prejudice and to live in a harmonious environment. The human library tries to be socially relevant and adapts a culture of acceptance and tolerance. To ensure that social responsibility is achieved, this event is free for all readers from all walks of life. The main objective of this paper is to share the experiences of the human books as well as the readers of the human library.