After 12 years of assembling a collection of more than 5,000 books, the Paths of Reading Community Library, in Parelheiros, on the far south of São Paulo, will have to leave its current headquarters: the burial house located behind the chapel of the Colonia Cemetery. The project started out modestly and invited the population to reframe their perceptions of life and death through books.
Thus, the management of the library has a new challenge: how to keep the collection alive, circulating through the region, while establishing the new headquarters? Inspired by a Colombian law that determines the distribution of the collection of public libraries that are closed or under renovation for popular libraries, the Caminhos da Leitura team decided to call residents of the neighborhood, partners and friends to take care of the collection. The campaign “I’m keeping the Caminhos da Leitura Community Library” intends to distribute bags, specially made, with 10 books each, to people who want to be guardians of the collection.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon