Biblioteca escolar como território cultural e educativo para formação protagonista de crianças: o caso de uma biblioteca em Teresina (PI)

Abstract

This study investigated the gaps in the understanding and appreciation of the school library, analyzing a library institution in Teresina (PI) that presents favorable structural conditions for its full functioning. The research, of a qualitative and descriptive nature, used interviews and direct observation to collect data in the empirical field, seeking to achieve the following objectives: a) general: To investigate how the school library is configured as a cultural and educational territory for the protagonistic formation of students; b) specific: To analyze the configuration and functioning of the school library of the investigated institution, considering its physical structure, collection, accessibility; cultural and pedagogical actions; To identify the specificities of this school library in accordance with the objectives, nature and potentialities inscribed in the IFLA/UNESCO Manifesto for these institutions; To examine the librarian's role in cultural and educational mediation within the school library, highlighting its impacts on the protagonistic formation of children; To reflect on the role of the school library as a cultural and educational territory in and for the formation of the children of this school. The results demonstrate that when a library has adequate infrastructure and is coordinated by a librarian aware of their educational role and organically connected to the nature of such a facility, it transcends the function of a book repository to become a territory of learning and empowerment. It was also identified that when aligned with the principles of the IFLA/UNESCO Manifesto, the library expands its educational and cultural potential, distancing itself from purely instrumental and/or pragmatic views often associated with facilities of this nature. Furthermore, it was observed that the meanings and significance of a school library, beyond its aesthetic and functional structure, are also influenced by the librarian's role in the cultural and educational mediation inherent in the facility, thus reflecting the relevance of this professional in the dynamics and actions of these spaces, configuring them as living, plural territories necessary for the education and empowerment of the individuals who need them and who work there.