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Since 2013, in several countries, the 14th of February is dedicated to book donation. The date is an incentive to solidarity and the habit of reading. For those who want to do good, one option is to donate copies to the Professor Arlindo Corrêa da Silva Library.
The space, located at Ramacrisna Institute, has almost 200m² and a collection of more than 9 thousand books of children’s and adult literature. In addition to serving children, youth and adult students in the Institute’s projects, employees and the community in 13 municipalities in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte can benefit from the library’s books. To give you an idea, in 2021 alone, there were 433 book loans to 288 readers.
Cleide Moura is the coordinator of the Ramacrisna Library and closely monitors the community’s relationship with books. “The Library has a fundamental role in the formation of the human being as a reader and as a critical citizen, in addition to providing an encounter with the fabulous and the opportunity to travel without leaving the place. In addition, it is still an immeasurable source of information,” she says.
But, despite being such an important material, the book is an expensive object and, therefore, unfortunately inaccessible to a large part of the population. Therefore, having a library in the community is important, as it is often the only chance for some readers to meet the books.
Cleide also points out that the Library provides meetings with writers and moments of cultural activities. “Perhaps this is one of the only sources of culture for these people. It is important that Libraries are assumed and recognized by the community as a living tool for transformation, because this is the great potential of libraries and reading spaces”, she points out.
To encourage and make reading more fun, storytelling and other activities take place inside the Library. It is also worth mentioning that the library also carries out several itinerant projects to encourage reading.
This is the case of the Literary Friday. In this project, students receive one book a week in a bag made of recycled material to transport the copy safely to their home. The intention is to encourage reading in the family environment. The child is free to choose books, including options for other family members. The loan term is one week.
Reading Suitcase, on the other hand, seeks to encourage reading in institutions that don’t have any kind of collection, such as public schools, community day care centers and Basic Health Units, for example.
The Suitcase holds about 40 books and turns into an “exhibitor shelf” when it is opened, since most of the institutions served don’t have an adequate space for the exhibition of books.
The delivery of the Bag is marked by a party, with a theatrical play based on books on the shelf. The books are renewed monthly. Since the creation of the project, 101 suitcases have been donated, totaling 4,383 books and benefiting an audience of more than 48,000 people in 4 cities.
So, by donating books to Ramacrisna, you will be able to contribute to all these projects.
To donate books to Ramacrisna, it is important to pay attention to the types of books to be donated. For example, books in poor condition or missing pages can discourage the reader.
In addition, before donating books, the profile of the Library should be observed to see if it includes other topics that are not literary. In the case of the Ramacrisna Institute Library, only donations of literary books are accepted.
“Many people accumulate books at home that they read once and probably won’t be read again, so the cool thing is to put the books out there,” says Cleide.
To donate to the Professor Arlindo Corrêa da Silva Library, just contact Ramacrisna and ask to speak with Cleide Moura.
