Public Library: Minas Gerais’ state policies (1983-2012)

Abstract

Introduction: This research aims to describe and analyze the policies for public libraries of Minas Gerais, aiming to understand the possible advances and retreats of these policies from 1983 to 2012. What justifies this research is that searching public libraries within the public policy context can serve as an important support for public managers to program new propositions, contributing to the study of the social role of information and cultural policies in the field of Information Science. 

Objectives: Its specific objectives are to identify government policies for public libraries through legal acts and administrative documents; to understand the actual implementation of such policies through testimonials and to track possible progress or set backs provided by policies implemented for public libraries. 

Methodology: The methodology used was documentary analysis, by means of the documents content analysis, and also carrying out semi-structured interviews with managers of the Minas Gerais Public Library Superintendence (direction). 

Results: Data were classified into categories of analysis, namely: legal frameworks, network libraries, relationship between State and Union, relationship between State and each county, librarian role, training and events, communication, financing, State Policies and Government Policies and Book and Reading State Plan. 

Conclusions: At the end, we found that policies for public libraries in Minas Gerais have advanced, although modestly, and that the history of policies already carried out are configured, greatly, as Government Policies, not as State Policies.