“Territórios da Leitura” promotes the creation of libraries in Northeast public schools
The reading incentive project created in 2020 is close to benefiting almost 5.000 children, with an average donation of 700 books to each school.
As the brazilian doctor Dráuzio Varella says: “The act of reading stimulates several areas of the human brain, being one of the most complete exercises”. That’s why it is critical to encourage the activity, especially among children.
Conceived and directed by Emídio Sanderson, “Territórios da Leitura” (Reading Territories) is an educational project that aims to democratise access to books in Brazilian northeastern public schools by building libraries in those one that haven’t got one yet or by improving those that already exist, but have been badly kept.
Created in 2020, the project has already benefited almost 5,000 students and donated an average of 700 books to each school. Now, Reading Territories operates inside schools of four Ceará State ‘s cities: Maracanaú, Itapipoca, Maranguape and Fortaleza.
To bring you more information about the project, Emídio Sanderson provided an exclusive interview for Lupa do Bem. Check it out.
Neuza Nascimento: How was Reading Territories created?
Emídio Sanderson: The project started at the Deputado Manoel Rodrigues Municipal School. But before that, we, from Seara Institution and Invento Cultural Productions, had already been carrying out projects in the areas of school libraries and reader formation, as the Vento do Saber, which began in 2018 as a similar project to Reading Territories which takes place in Caucaia city, Metropolitan Region of Fortaleza, acting in communities of high social vulnerability and also in the rural area. This project provided us with the necessary knowledge and experience to carry out the Territórios da Leitura project.
Neuza Nascimento: What is the project methodology like?
Emídio Sanderson: We have split it in two steps. The first one is the makeover of a library that already exists or the installation of a new one (if the school does not have one). New furniture, new tables, chairs, and puffs designed by an architect were donated. We painted a mural, done by a local artist who is a community resident or lives near to the school. We also installed air conditioning, TV sets, and computers. So, we improve the whole place in a way that makes it look more appealing, beautiful, functional, more welcoming, and visually attractive with the aim of making children eager to be in this environment. All that so children see the library as a space for contemplation, for coexistence and, above all, as a place to access culture and art with an emphasis on reading.
Neuza Nascimento: What is the next step?
Emídio Sanderson: It’s the formation of educators and students. We train educators through a seminar, which takes place virtually and is available to all Brazil. We also carry out workshops focused on making the library more dynamic and reading mediation. The school’s teaching staff receives consultancy from our trainers regarding the dynamization of libraries as well as literary reading mediation, like consultancy for literary clubs or gatherings.
Neuza Nascimento: And the next step for students?
Emídio Sanderson: We conduct reading and literary writing workshops, in addition to offering a storytelling session. All the formation activities are focused on cultivating new readers, encouraging qualified writing, and attracting this public into the library, which is the main character here.
About the project’s beneficiaries, Emídio Sanderson says that:
“in sum, the project is close to reaching five thousand kids. All of them are elementary school students from municipal public schools. These children are in the initial reader age group. We hope to be able to assist more and more children, especially students coming from communities of medium or high social vulnerability, reaching indigenous communities, quilombolas, urban ghettos and rural communities”.
Emdio Sanderson thinks that the fact that the project came out in the middle of the pandemic was the biggest challenge: “It was more difficult, but it was also a big win for us: “It was more challenging, but also a big victory for us. Every day, the project continues to work and grow.”, said Sanderson.
Territórios da Leitura (Reading Territories) is jointly carried out by Invento Cultural Productions and the Special Secretary for Culture, which is an agency of the Tourism’s Ministry via the Brazilian Federal Law of Incentive to Culture.
The project is sponsored by Gerdau, DASS Group and CAGECE and has partnerships with BG Social Solutions and Seara Institution.
For more information, check out the links below.
