The politics of public librarianship in Brazil

If the rate of scholarity has reached almost 100% for young people between the ages of 7-14 years, Brazil still has a high rate of illiteracy amongst adults. Due to the lack of library provision, of which there are still very few and badly resourced, the Ministry of Education launched a programme in 2001 aimed at distributing books directly to students. However, a real policy for books and reading has been set up at a local level: Brazil voted a "book law" in 2003 and a national plan for books and reading should come into effect in 2005. An insert describes the Mala do Livro - Bibliotecas domiciliares programme set up in Brasilia in 1990.
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