Ações culturais para incentivo à leitura em bibliotecas universitárias: revisão sistemática da literatura

Abstract

The act of reading is a complex process that encompasses several human characteristics and has a long history. From the earliest records to digital texts, it has been studied across different areas, by various authors and during different periods.However, the rise of digital books, piracy, and widespread internet access have the potential to diminish the utilization of physical libraries. To counteract this trend, cultural initiatives can be implemented in university libraries to foster reading and offer access to diverse forms of culture. In this context, the research aims to identify the cultural actions carried out, discuss their relevance in university library settings, and explore their contributions to students reading beyond the mandatory requirements for their courses. As the method, a systematic literature review was employed due to its comprehensive and rigorous nature. To identify relevant studies and case reports, search strategies were devised for execution on the Portal de Periódicos da Capes and the Base de Dados em Ciência da Informação (Brapci). The search in the proceedings of the Seminário Nacional de Bibliotecas Universitárias (SNBU) was conducted manually. Spanning from 2002 to 2022, after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 58 articles were selected for this review. Relevant data was extracted and organized into a digital spreadsheet. The data collected indicated that the majority of selected works were published in the Southeast, South and Northeast regions. Moreover, a higher volume of actions was concentrated during Semana Nacional do Livro e da Biblioteca, with lectures, musical performances, workshops, and artistic exhibitions being the most frequently implemented activities. Qualitative data suggested an appreciation for cultural actions themselves, recognizing their relevance, but not all reports aimed to encourage reading. There was an understanding that cultural actions serve as a means of promoting the library and its utilization, fostering reading and culture, providing space for discussions on various topics, encouraging creativity and critical perception, and situating the library as a dynamic, educational, and leisure space. Regarding challenges indicated in the works, difficulties were observed in engaging the team, reconciling the sound of cultural presentations with the silent library environment, preventing cultural actions from being mere entertainment, and addressing obstacles like the workload of undergraduate students hindering participation. Other challenges included the overload of librarians involved in planning actions due to additional demands, lack of financial budgets, and the inability of the action planning team. Closure of the library for external reasons, such as Covid-19, was also noted as a challenge. Therefore, the data suggest that cultural actions in university libraries have contributed to promoting reading and culture as social practices, not merely as entertainment. These actions have facilitated dialogue within the university, opened spaces for discussing literature beyond the classroom, democratized access to culture, and encouraged critical thinking within academic and, in some cases, external communities.