The books in the Breathing Library are not paper, but people!

Serge Jardin will be the man to talk to if you pick the ‘book’ Gua Baba Mat Salleh (I Am A White Man). Photos: Sherman Ong

Have you ever heard the phrase “you can read that person like a book?” Usually, this evocative expression refers to being able to understand a person very clearly.

Stop by the Breathing Library at the Gua Bikin Handmade And Art Market in Malacca this weekend, however, and you can see this expression take on a new, literal meaning. As its name suggests, the Breathing Library does not contain any paper novels or encyclopedias.