The Toronto Public Library began its “Human Library” project with about 200 users registering to “check out” interesting persons from the community who would sit and converse with patrons who might not otherwise have the opportunity to mingle with people like them.
The first day’s lend-outs, for a half-hour at a time, included a police officer, a comedian, a former sex worker, a model, and a person who had survived cancer, homelessness and poverty.
The Human Library actually harkens back to olden times, said a TPL official, where “storytelling from person to person was the only way to learn.”
Natural
born
salesman 
When Bernie Ecclestone, CEO of the Formula One racing circuit, was mugged and had his jewelry stolen, he sent a photograph of his battered face to the Hublot watch company and convinced its chief executive to run a brief advertising campaign, “See What People Will Do for a Hublot.”
Bend
over,
it’s
tax time
The treasurer of Idaho County, Idaho, turned down the suggestion of local physician Andrew Jones that more cancers might be detected early if the county sent colonoscopy suggestions to residents along with their official tax notices.
The treasurer said residents might find the reminders “ironic.”
(Send your Weird News to Chuck Shepherd, P.O. Box 18737, Tampa Fla. 33679 or go to www.newsoftheweird.com.)