Rent a Minority!

The Malmoe Library in southern Sweden has started something it calls "the Living Library project", which "will enable people to come face-to-face with their prejudices in the hopes of altering their preconceived notions":

Nine people, including a homosexual, an imam, a journalist, a Muslim woman and a gypsy, will be available at the Malmoe Library for members of the public to "borrow" for a 45-minute conversation in the library's outdoor cafe.

The only thing that caught my eye was this sentence:

[T]he nine "items" on loan were not hard to find but... will be paid "a small sum" for their efforts.

Eureka! I've already written up my ad in case this catches on in the US:

Want to gain some useful insight regarding what it's like to be a minority? A single mom, an Arab-American, a (lapsed) Muslim, and a bisexual woman will be available at Austin Public Library for members of the public to borrow for 45 minutes. The item is actually just one woman, and she will be paid several small sums.

Link via Bookninja