112 Brazilian municipalities still lack public libraries
Public libraries are still the primary—and often the only—existing cultural facility in many towns
The new national registry of state and community libraries, released by the Ministry of Culture in December, reveals that 112 of the 5,570 Brazilian municipalities still do not have public spaces for reading, even though there are 6,701 registered public and around 3,000 community libraries in Brazil.
According to the Ministry of Culture's Director for Books, Reading, Literature, and Libraries, Volnei Canônica, the new registry will enable connection of all library equipment to a central network to share information and experiences. “We're starting a campaign to encourage all [libraries] to register so we can began mapping and sharing,” he said.
Although a library is a municipality's primary cultural facility, the number of libraries in the country falls short of the population needs. “They [libraries] are currently the most wide-reaching kind of cultural facility. Slashing funding for libraries means cutting down on what is often the only cultural facility a municipality has.”
According to Canônica, it takes investment to improve the system and reach all cities. “The Ministry of Culture provides guidelines for opening libraries and maintains dialogue with public administrators. But it's up to the municipalities and states to provide the facilities and staff for libraries to operate,” he explained.
Brazil's oldest library is the National Library in Rio de Janeiro, established in 1810 as the Royal Library with its founding collection brought over to the country by the court of King John VI in 1808. The library currently holds 9 million items and has been rated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) among the world's leading national libraries.
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: 112 Brazilian municipalities still lack public libraries
