From trash to Reading. Library Parque Villa-Lobos in Sao Paulo
The Villa-Lobos Park Library (BVL) is a particular place. In addition to offering books for loans and environments to study, like any library, the BLV is also a different experience of reading, learning and fun. Inaugurated in 2015, it was built on a ground that served as a large landfill of open-pit garbage, and now aspires to become the best in the world next to centers in the United States, Holland, Norway and Singapore.
Devices capable of translating written words into Braille, new technology workshops for the elderly and a space for yoga classes are some of the attractions that have led to the library Parque Villa Lobos, in Sao Paulo, to be one of the finalists of the prize Public Library 2018. Its constantly updated acquis focuses on literature and environmental aspects. It consists of books, magazines, newspapers, ebooks, HQs, DVDs and CDs, as well as books in Braille and audiobooks, destined to blind people.
Precisely this aspect, social inclusion – a priority in contemporary libraries – was taken into account for the nomination. In addition to the capable translators, the BVL offers the possibility to convert books into audio, browse pages or print embossed images as some of the tools available to disabled users.
The recognition of the South American country to the prize of the International Federation of Library Associations and Libraries (IFLA) is unpublished but not surprising, since it precedes iconic spaces in São Paulo as the SESC Pompeia − of the architect Lina Bo Bardi − whose essence they share. These are monumental projects aimed at strengthening community ties.
"This nomination is particularly important to us here in Brazil, because we are together with finaliters from countries that have a strong tradition of investing in reading, culture and library," explains Pierre André Ruprecht, director of SP Leituras, the Organization that manages the space.
Another important concept present in the BLV is that of "living library" i.e. a place where the important thing is not the acquis, but the community. In this library, the shelves full of books give prominence to a thread shop that occupies the center of the three-storey hall, where hammocks are distributed where people read, chat or even sleep. The natural light of the sun and the fresh air in the vicinity of the park abound in the different sections that make up the building, furnished with comfy sofas and armchairs that give the feeling of being in the living room of the house on a weekend.
Silence is not a regulation either. In the context of contemporaneousness, each user occupies the space in an environment of freedom and respect. Similarly, the adaptation of the site, the plurality of activities in the Villa Lobos Library, which hosts more than 900 cultural events a year, attracted the attention of IFLA and resulted in its nomination.
But the Director stresses that adaptation is not the same as resignation. In their view, libraries continue as a "space for the autonomous construction of knowledge."
"The library has to provide access and be the stage to discuss and create. There must always be these three visions: access, discussion and creation, "he says. From these elements, the library has the power to bring classical culture and literature closer to the new generations, a movement considered "essential" in the era of the so-called fake news.
"The volume of information that is available is absurd and above our processing capacity. Then the role of the library and its professionals is to help select the information that may be important, "emphasizes Ruprecht.
The IFLA Award nomination, says the director, can show the "politicians, leaders and culture managers" in Brazil and other nations, that it is feasible to do a strong social work through these institutions of knowledge. In this sense it is a reflection of a State policy aimed at favoring the spaces of culture as formative-recreational sites, a commitment to education.
"Libraries are the cultural tool closest to low income populations and are able to generate a very positive social impact as long as they are promoted with constant and consistent actions," the director tops.
Regardless of the prize, the BLV is already internationally recognized and most importantly, it can be proud to have fulfilled its primary objectives: to make community, to promote social inclusion by means of reading and to encourage the pleasure of reading in All citizens, of all ages and genders. For this and more, long live the library "Viva" of São Paulo.