LOGAN -- Christian Orr waited, with neatly combed hair and a dapper outfit with a sweater vest, hoping someone would check him out.
Orr, 23 and a Farmington native, volunteered this week to be a "human book," sharing his personal knowledge of bagpipes and his Canadian family roots with anyone who arrived at Utah State University's Merrill-Cazier Library to check him out for information.
"I wanted to branch out and meet people," said Orr, who studies landscape architecture at USU. He held his paper book cover, which described him as a "Bagpiping Member of the 'Eh' Team."
"My dad's from Canada, and I'm involved with international students' group. Bagpiping and my Canadian side could be things that are special about me."
Orr headed from his "shelf" seat to the reading room after being selected by a reader.
Already deep in conversation was Logan resident Tim Wright, who volunteered as an Extreme Weather Chaser for USU's first-ever Human Library event. Visitors checked him out four times during his two-hour session Tuesday.
"I felt like I only got three minutes of rest," Wright said, smiling. "I enjoyed what I learned, and I enjoyed sharing what I know with others."
The three-day event ends with a session from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. today.
Other human books have included Mormon Turned Pagan, Female Gamer, Top Ramen for the (Mature) College Student's Soul, and Leaving ED (Eating Disorders) Behind.
Organizer Anne Hedrich, a USU reference librarian, said the goals of the Human Library event are to open dialogues between people who may think they are different.
Hedrich sought out volunteers to represent different ethnicities, religions, nationalities, occupations, characteristics and hobbies.
Abbas Al Sharif and Roula Bachour, of Logan, presented themselves as a book on their homeland, Lebanon.
"It is exciting to be part of this," said Al Sharif, 29. "We had never heard of a human library before."
"We are a two-volume book with two points of view," Bachour, 30, said with a laugh. "People have asked me whether Muslims and Christians can live together, and about the tension."
Pat Roberts, of Charleston, W.Va., was in town while her husband took a USU workshop.
"It just sounded so interesting, to learn something I didn't know," she said.
"I picked the book on blindness because we have a blind praise band at my church; I picked the Universal Unitarian book because I have a friend who is fun and crazy, and I wanted to see if it was because of her religion.
"It's been so fun, I'm going to suggest we do it at the library in Charleston."
"Book" Sachin Pavithran, who is blind, is USU's assistive technology specialist and disability law and policy coordinator.
"I wanted people to understand how much you can accomplish as a blind person," said Pavithran, accompanied by guide dog Barstow. "There is a world of opportunity."
Beth Walden, who took questions on Universal Unitarianism and on chemotherapy, said she volunteered because she likes to be of service.
"And I had so much fun talking to the people who came as readers, and to the other books," said Walden, 62, a Logan resident. "I love to hear about what other people have done in their lives."
Leah Hazlett, 27, a USU environmental studies major, summed up her experience in the title "Living Out Loud."
"I met such nice people from around the world," the Logan resident said. "I enjoyed exchanging the information, but also the openness, warmth and understanding I felt from strangers."
USU's Human Library project is part of a larger movement founded in 2000.
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