Mediação da Informação para inclusão social em bibliotecas públicas: experiências nas cidades de São Paulo e Jacareí

Abstract

The theme of this doctoral thesis is the use of information mediation for social inclusion in public libraries. Its objective is to identify and analyze information mediation practices utilized in libraries that have been considered as “best practices” in the field. We propose to identify and analyze if, and with what means, information mediation practices utilized contribute to social inclusion of library users and library communities. To guide the empirical study, the theoretical chapters of this thesis, consider, initially, the concept of mediation: the use of the term in the literature and the different meanings with which it is applied in empirical studies in the information science field. Reading mediation, mediation for the development of information literacy and mediation for the development of community relations are some of information mediation aspects approached here. Another theme developed in the theoretical part of this thesis is information for social inclusion, especially the literature that emphasize the necessity of considering the social and political context of any information mediation action aimed at social inclusion, as well as the adoption of a critical perspective. These approaches will contribute to the effective appropriation of information by users and communities. The last theoretical chapter tries to characterize how social inclusion have been increasingly considered in the definition of library mission and practices, including in the mediation activities of librarians and other library professionals. The research field of the empirical research was constituted of three public libraries in the State of São Paulo, in Brazil: Biblioteca de São Paulo and Biblioteca Parque Villa-Lobos, in the city of São Paulo, and Biblioteca Municipal Macedo Soares, in the city of Jacareí. Qualitative methods were applied in the study: documentary research and observation. The documentary analysis was aimed at identifying programs, resources and activities in these libraries that have social inclusion purposes. Observation was intended to personally accompany the execution of inclusive mediation practices. The results obtained from the empirical study allowed a categorization of inclusive mediation practices in these libraries. The main conclusions of this study are that these three libraries show several types of mediation practices, as reading mediation and promotion of library-community relation, that in fact seem to contribute to social inclusion with the use of information resources. These examples can be considered as “best practices”, which contain suggestions that could be replicated by other libraries that are part of the Brazilian public library network.