Faróis da educação e os desafios da formação de leitores no Maranhão

Abstract

This research investigates reading practices and development of readers in the context of specific public places for reading, named Faróis da Educação (Lighthouses of Education), which resulted from the project Farol da Educação: uma alternativa para as bibliotecas escolares (Lighthouses of Education: an alternative to school libraries). The implementation of Faróis da Educação started in 1997 and was carried out by the government of Maranhão, a northeastern state of Brazil. The Project was based on another initiative, the so-called Faróis do Saber (Lighthouses of knowledge), developed in Curitiba, the capital of Brazilian southern state of Paraná. The main purpose of the study is to shed light on this ongoing program in Maranhão, from an analytical and critical perspective, and questioning the role of these spaces in the development of readers. Six Faróis da Educação located in the Regional Unit of Codó, in Maranhão, constitute the corpus of the research; among them, the Farol in the municipality of Codó was chosen for a deeper study. The research is grounded in two methodological procedures: quantitative approach, by mapping the six Faróis da Educação; and qualitative approach, by identifying and analyzing reading practices of six assiduous readers at Farol of Codó. Theoretical support came from scholars in the field of reading and development of readers, and from studies on public and school libraries. This research has corroborated the importance of Faróis da Educação to the context where they exist and operate; in some cases, they are the only reading spaces in town. However, taking into account data found about the Faróis, it becomes clear that they need more attention and monitoring, greater financial support and more human resources, so that it becomes possible to: improve their physical structure and their collection, and offer professional training to their employees. This way, they will be able to besides giving support to school research offer activities that provide development of readers.