The tangible and the corporeal of brazilian public libraries: From the ideal to the real

Public libraries (BPs) are institutions with enormous potential for social transformation. It is in these institutions that the individual can develop skills and abilities to manipulate and expand knowledge through access to information, a fundamental activity for the formation of the citizen. However, the Brazilian BPs have enormous differences due to the Brazilian geographical capillarity itself, the stark difference brought about by the digital age, as well as the lack of effective public policies, increase the gap between these institutions and the reality of the community around them. These distances have placed BPs as places forgotten by society and neglected by public power. In this perspective, this article aimed to diagnose the current situation of Brazilian BPs. The research was descriptive with a qualitative-quantitative approach based on the application of a questionnaire in BPs. The data indicate that more than half (54%) of those in charge of the library are not trained in Librarianship, although 92% of the respondents have higher education. Almost half (44%) of the BPs have only one employee, making it impossible to develop several activities in the unit. About 70% of the BPs work only during business hours and 64% have their space adapted to be a library. The analysis presented data, sometimes distressing. It is true that these institutions have long been neglected in the different administrative hierarchies in which they are inserted. To change this scenario, it is necessary to implement actions at the local and national levels, in order to bring Brazilian public libraries to the 21st century.