In today’s world, libraries are increasingly important as books play a unique role in improving
people’s creativity and knowledge.

In addition to classrooms, libraries are extremely important places for the training of children and adults. These spaces bring together books for all ages, aimed at artistic, scientific and cultural development.

Public libraries are important sources of information for studies, creation of school work, and for making personal and social decisions. All this through its collection of books, newspapers, magazines and handouts.

Furthermore, libraries boost creativity, allowing direct contact with the world of imagination and fiction. Through reading, we experience new experiences, learn more about the world we live in and also about ourselves, as it leads us to reflection.

Below, learn more about the importance of libraries and practical projects that transform the lives of thousands of people every year.

Importance of libraries recognized

The importance of libraries goes beyond that. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), these spaces have some key missions, which guide their operations:

• Create and strengthen reading habits in children, from early childhood;
• Support individual education and self-training, as well as formal education at all levels;
• Ensure each person has the means to evolve creatively;
• Stimulate the imagination and creativity of children and young people;
• Promote knowledge about cultural heritage, appreciation for the arts and scientific achievements and innovations;
• Enable access to all forms of cultural expression of the arts;
• Promote intercultural dialogue and cultural diversity;
• Support oral tradition;
• Ensure citizens’ access to all types of information from the local community;
• Provide appropriate information services to local companies, associations and interest groups;
• Facilitate the development of the ability to use information and computing;
• Support, participate and, if necessary, create literacy programs and activities for different age groups.

Ramacrisna Library

One of Ramacrisna’s projects is the Professor Arlindo Corrêa da Silva Library, which was named in honor of the founder of the Institute. In total, the space, located at the organization’s headquarters in Betim, has 194 m² and a collection of more than 10 thousand books. With titles aimed at children, teenagers and adults, the library serves all Ramacrisna students, employees and the entire community of 13 municipalities in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte.

To further attract readers, the Library is not restricted to walls: there are several projects to encourage itinerant reading, in addition to using the entire space of the institution. This allows people to have a closer, more pleasant, comfortable and pleasurable relationship with reading.

Inside the space, various activities take place, such as storytelling and artistic presentations. Finally, since 2020, the Ramacrisna Library has had a Play Library, with a collection of games, with the aim of stimulating readers’ skills and providing socialization and interaction between those who frequent the place.

Reading Suitcase

Mala de Leitura is one of the initiatives of the Professor Arlindo Corrêa da Silva Library, which seeks to encourage reading in institutions that do not have a literary collection, such as schools, daycare centers and Basic Health Units, for example.

The Institute promotes the delivery of a suitcase to each of these selected locations. In total, it holds 40 books and transforms into a “display shelf” when opened. This is because the institutions served generally do not have a suitable place to display the specimens.

In addition to the books, the project also includes presentations of plays, made during the delivery of the Suitcase. Each month, the project books are renewed.

Literary Friday

The Sexta Literária project is aimed at the community impacted by other Institute projects. The idea arose due to the knowledge that children and young people in the community have little contact with reading in the family environment, which can lead to difficulties in the school environment.

Therefore, an action was created that involves the whole family. The participant receives a bag made from recycled material to safely transport the book home, being able to bring options for all family members. It is the reader himself who chooses the books on the Library shelf and can keep them for a week, before returning them.

To maintain these and other projects, the Ramacrisna Institute needs you. Collaborate by donating books or resources to purchase new copies. Contact us to learn more.