Publicado em 14 de ago de 2015
Palestra de abertura do Congresso Brasileiro de Biblioteconomia e Documentação 2015, em São Paulo, com o Prof. David Lankes.

Vamos pensar juntos uma nova Biblioteconomia?
Prof. David Lankes

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hello my name is David Lang kasama professor at the School of Information
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Studies here in Syracuse New York in the United States I'm sorry couldn't be
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there in person actually right about now I think I'm supposed to be flying from
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Europe back to the united states it's very exciting the expect more rules
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world tour that I'm on has really shows that there is an international interest
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in rethinking libraries and librarianship in moving beyond libraries
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as palaces of books and places we keep things to looking at them as knowledge
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hubs within the community as engines to community improvement and I think that's
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why I'm fact that they expect more has been translated into Portuguese I want
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to thank George and Adriana and the Brazilian Federation of library
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associations and the information scientists and institutions and all
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those who are involved in making the translation possible I think there's a
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really fabulous conversation going on about our future and I think that future
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is bright and I hope this will be an entry for you to be part of that
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conversation to share what you're learning what's going on in Brazil and
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elsewhere
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expect more is based around the premise that libraries can be a lot more than
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what communities have become accustomed to thank you much more than just places
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and buildings they can be much more than just books and quiet places to study
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they really can be about community empowerment about community learning
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about a whole new way that libraries can push for democracy push forward
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community well push forward a whole new aspect and better said of living for all
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the citizens and members of those members of an academy University
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those numbers of a township or school or a business where government doesn't
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matter the big push behind accept more is a simple question a seemingly simple
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question and that question is this why why do we have wipers why do we need
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librarians why do librarians do what they do a lot of the focus of our
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librarianship to this point
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and how how do we organize materials how do we build buildings how do we offer
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certain programs a lot of house but unless we understand the wise those
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house may become out of date they may not be useful
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we really are looking at refreshing look at librarianship by going back to the
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fundamentals starting with why are we doing things and then based on that
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scene if we should continue the services we can offer or if we should offer a
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whole new suite of services so why why do we have libraries while some things
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you can say we were collected by needed a library can take taxes or tuition or
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money from lots of people put it together and buy resources collections
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materials databases we could never afford on her own
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some people say in addition to that their stewards of cultural heritage that
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we have libraries to preserve our past we have libraries to preserve that that
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that that is important to us our literature or thinking works of our
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authors
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he never academic success IRA some people see it as a safety net for those
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who can afford access to books or materials or databases a library can be
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there to provide access to all in an equitable fashion I think those are true
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but even below that the way in which we seek to the is stored to provide a
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safety net
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why we're doing this is ultimately around the idea of community learning we
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do this so that our communities improved we do this or communities get better the
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lives of our members bday faculty or students or citizens or businessmen or
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government officials that they get better through knowledge through
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learning that libraries are inherently learning organizations now that's not
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the commonly shared definition hence the term expect more most people think when
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they think of libraries around something like this relatively traditional
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definition data libraries a building or room containing books and periodicals
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and sometimes films and recorded music and that's it
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where they start that's their expectation when they walk into a
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library they expect to find well stuff books but the problem with that
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definition is it doesn't really answer the why question and not only does it
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not quite handle the why question I think it really is rather constraining
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in the house no words it doesn't talk about were there for learning were there
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for improvement the community and the only houses to collect stuff the problem
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this definition is too many things that we don't want to be a library meet this
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definition this is a picture that's not uncommon in the United States and
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perhaps you have it in brazil is well it's the famous book sale we collect a
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bunch of used books and materials and we put him in a big room and people can
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comment rummage through and buy and sell though they're not organized
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particularly well there's nothing going on here besides looking at the books and
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materials there's not a lot of concern about learning and knowledge and
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cultural change your institution
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knowledge so this really isn't where we want to go in fact this is only one step
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removed from something like this picture this is a gentleman who clearly likes
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his stuff and collect things and it's a book full of its a room full of books
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and materials reporting but if you look at that picture for a moment you notice
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in the background you suddenly see a desk and curtains and a light and you
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something oh my goodness this is somebody's house this is a pathological
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order this is a person with a mental condition where they have to collect
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stuff they have to can't throw things away and I don't think this is where we
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want to go a library doesn't want to be you know hoarding with better
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architecture because the next step by the way if this looks to clean is this
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just throw piles of materials in and we don't want back to be a library right a
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library shouldn't be a place of just dropping off books and stuff should be
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active it should be proactive it should make the community better in many ways a
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better model isn't that of leg room full of recordings and materials it's the
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public square
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the public square in
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lead to many countries that is closing its that place where anyone can come
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from childhood to old age from businessmen to scholars to government
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workers to come and talk and relate the problem with this definition of
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libraries as a room filled with books and recordings is not only doesn't
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capture things we don't want to consider a library it ignores the things we
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probably do want to consider a library this is a picture from a community
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college here in the states and those of her in essence different body parts that
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people can lend him borrow and why are they there because this college teaches
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medicine it teaches nursing it teaches health care and so a library here isn't
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about books and materials it's about arms and legs and circulatory systems or
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what about libraries that look like people this is in Europe they call it
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the the human library we have some of them in the states as well this effect
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is a prejudiced library where you can go and check out people sometimes those
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people are organized by their expertise lawyer or doctor professor sometimes as
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in this case you checked out a prejudice have you ever talk to someone of a
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different religion have you talked to someone of a different race different
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class different neighborhood the library provides a safe environment for people
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to come and talk about their differences and explore new things new things in new
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ways a library is a safe place to explore dangerous ideas and that's not
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necessarily done as a room full of books and recordings and music sometimes it's
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an open courtyard with people just talking or perhaps a library should look
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more like this this is what a library looks like in the very northern tribal
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areas of Kenya in Kenya their building as many public libraries as they can in
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the city that means steel and glass and rooms where they can't get to through
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modern equipment what they do is they actually have donkey carts that take
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materials and people out into
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their different communities and when they're far north you can even get the
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dog he's out there they load them onto camels and they take him to the tribal
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areas and once a week on a regular basis they unload the camels they set up tents
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and there are materials there are librarians and that's where they teach
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people how to read they teach people skills they teach these new ideas at the
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hospital library looks to them so this definition of a room full of books and
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materials which is often what we used within the field where we train people
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on how to maintain the books and materials or answer questions about them
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or something it's insufficient it's insufficient because it's a how
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definition it's insufficient because it doesn't capture the true value of the
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library which is learning and knowledge and it doesn't capture the fact that
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learning and knowledge doesn't just happen from books and materials and
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things that happens from people and those people that expertise those
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conversations that we have don't just come from elsewhere just not just a
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matter of importing everything we know from the united states and providing
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that two people in Brazil it's from our own community local knowledge so back to
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that why question why do we have libraries we have libraries so that our
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communities can learn so that our communities can get better serve our
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communities can build new things
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88 library is a learning institution like the school but with the how-to
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curriculum it's a school where the learners drive what they learned what
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are the topics how did they learn what are their questions and so the other why
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question I think we're gonna get to is why do we need librarians to do that
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because of the definition of a library isn't place with stuff right and the
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definition there for a librarian is someone who maintains that building and
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such but it's about learning if a library is about community if a library
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is about unleashing the community and achieving their goals and dreams through
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knowledge then what is the
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mission of the library what is their role here while I argue that the mission
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of librarians is to improve society through facilitating knowledge creation
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in their communities
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this is not the mission of a library this is not the mission of an academic
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library or a public library or school library this is the mission of people of
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an individual of a profession of you and this mission doesn't change by the
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setting your it doesn't change by the library or it doesn't change by the
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country you're in the mission of the library may change but not a library so
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the first thing to know about this mission is that is a people not
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institutions for far too long we have looked at the field of librarianship as
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training people to maintain and build steward places places called libraries
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places with library above the door places with stacks of books and shows
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it's time that we change that it's time that we define the field of
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librarianship by the people who conducted and realize that librarians
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may well work in libraries but they may well work in government and schools and
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businesses and be setting up their own library in the middle of the fields in
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their own neighborhoods it's about individuals it's about what librarians
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do and the importance of librarians not that we somehow maintain the important
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thing which is the building of the books we need to understand that the true
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value of libraries is not in its more Indian its carpets and in its shelves
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but he needs people and in its communities that come together and what
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do we do with this knowledge creation and we have to understand that knowledge
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is not something that can be reported true knowledge exists only within our
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minds it exists within people and so yes books and materials can help spark that
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can help us develop and have conversations about it but the book
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itself is not knowledge it's what we bring to it and now I just created
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through conversations those conversations may be between two
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individuals between groups between two cultures and language
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jizz or most of them within ourselves where we as we're reading as we're
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encountering as we're engaging as we're thinking through a problem we're on our
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own conversations were saved we believe this how am I gonna do this what am i
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doing those are the essential conversations and so that means of
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course that if libraries are in the knowledge business we're in the
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conversation business how much conversation is supported within your
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libraries do you want a quiet environment where only internal
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conversations can occur or you will allow an environment where people are
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constantly talking and arguing in thinking and figuring things out right
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it's a community should determine that
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not we as librarians and that's the other part of this is that we need to
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talk about how is librarians do we help this knowledge creation process we
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facilitate it what does that mean well the first way that we facilitate
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knowledge creation is something we're all familiar with access we provide
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access to books and materials and things but we also need to provide access to
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direct knowledge that is we need to provide access to people within your
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community you have an amazing set of expertise in how the community works in
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different professions in different cultures and different understand how
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much I actually do you provide how much do you allow people within your
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community to connect to each other to connect between the academy and the
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local community and the government and business and etcetera
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how much do you connect people to people not people do things and access is two
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ways how much do you provide a a platform for people to share their
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knowledge in their expertise with the world when I come to your library and
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I'm coming from syracuse new york and I come visit your library either in person
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or online how much can I learn about the local community you reside within can I
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learn about local culture and learn about local music learn about the best
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places to eat in about who's the smartest person talk to on topic X or is
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your entire collection your entire library said
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up to teach the local community about what the rest of the world knows it
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needs to be two-way you need to unleash the potential of your communities to the
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rest of the world we also do it by providing training or knowledge that is
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if you want to be part of this conversation if you want to read this
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book if you want to use this tool you may need basic skills in language in
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computer literacy in all sorts of things so we provide that as well
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librarians also providing a safe environment than physical safety is part
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of it but intellectual safety is a very large part of it once again a library is
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a safe place to engage with dangerous ideas how do we do that we preserve the
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privacy of our community members when they seek and access information we
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don't broadcast it to the world we provide access an environment where they
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feel comfortable in learning and learning things in their own way do we
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teach people had become lifelong learners so that after they're done with
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school after their outside of a formal University they can continue to learn
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and by the way do we as librarians model that so that we are seeing constantly
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learning and renewing and refreshing our skills and lastly we do it by providing
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motivation that is we understand why people see this information that they
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may be doing it for other people they may be doing for personal reward so we
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provide a motive 18 in stimulating environment for them to access and build
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knowledge in conversations and we always do this with the ultimate goal of
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improving society we do this because it's based on our values of value of
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learning that is that we believe in continuous life-long learning that we as
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librarians model it and that we encourage it in our communities even if
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your bid their faculty member we continue to learn and to librarians help
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us to continue to do that we do that area
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openness we as librarians believe that the best decisions are made in the
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richest information environments with the most diverse sources of information
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from books and journals to people and
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stories and video many libraries in the United States academic and public
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rebuilding makers basis with 3d printers and fabrication facilities why because
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people learn from things other than reading and books they learned from
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their parents they learned from elders they learned from people down the
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neighborhood they learn from people across the continents and so we as
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libraries need to bring together any tool that is available for people to
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learn not simply one and only one type of learning material is where the
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learning business or not the book business business we're not in the
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building business when the learning business we bring a value of
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intellectual freedom and safety so that they can engage and ideas that they
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might be reluctant to do with everyone knew what they were looking at and we do
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it in an intellectually honest way as librarians we have a bias for example
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those values we believe in privacy we believe in a diverse set of information
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that means we have a point of view whenever you're learning you're in the
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conversation that means that you are part of a conversation you helped shape
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the community that you are part of your not unbiased you're not neutral you're a
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professional and professionals have points of view and bring those to their
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communities so once again as a sort of in note here we are in the learning
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business you are in the learning business those buildings those books
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those internet connections there there to help your communities learn but
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they're just tools they're not why we're librarians we don't build buildings so
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that we can admire architecture rebuild building so that people have a place to
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come and work together
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buildings libraries used to be a place for us as librarians to do our work now
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therefore our communities to come into their work learning knowing speak in
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shaping librarians in many pieces need to get out of their buildings they need
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to be in those communities in those classrooms in those research labs in
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those
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agencies seen what the questions and problems and dreams and aspirations are
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and helping to solve them on the ground
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libraries are platforms built by librarians built and maintained by
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liberals for the community those platforms include materials they include
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tools they may include makers basis they may include tribal masks they may be
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include local music they may include all of these things but they're brought
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together in a mediated environment in an environment where like brains have
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shaped that environment have controlled environment so people feel safe and they
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learn and they share the true value of a library is in its ability to reflect its
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community the true value of a library is not to bring the world to the doorstep
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of the community its to bring what the community knows and learns from that
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access back to the world that's what we're talking about it so ultimately the
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message of expect more of New librarianship of the work that I do in
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the work that you're discussing now let's expect more of ourselves our
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institutions and our communities if we settle for libraries being spaces and
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buildings of books and materials that might serve some people will serve some
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people for a relatively limited time if on the other hand we look at librarians
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as people who empower communities to dream and to inspire and acquire new
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levels of achievement they never thought possible if we expect more of libraries
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librarians and communities we will achieve more than we ever expected we
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have the opportunity now to make library's central to the communities
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that we serve me they universities governments localities states countries
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businesses it doesn't
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libraries can be an essential part of all of those because librarians are
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trained and active there
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activists out they're not saying anymore labor input to say look what we can do
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we can help you achieve more we can help you learn more we can help you learn
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more we help you discover new things we can help you govern better we can help
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you better and we do that through learning we do that through knowledge we
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do that by improving society through facilitating knowledge creation in those
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communities I hope that you can use this book in this material is my writings as
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a beginning point for that conversation I invite you I I hope that as you do it
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as you engage as you read as you think as you go to apply and you find
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difficulties or problems were disagreements that you open that part of
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that discussion up to me and my colleagues around the world
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brazil has an amazing opportunity before it you have knowledge workers who are
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ready to unleash your capabilities don't sell yourself short
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don't expect too little don't define libraries what they've always been like
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libraries have existed for millennia not because they have stayed the same but
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because every successive generation radically rethink and radically changes
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the role the method the tools but not the values of librarianship it's our
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turn I look forward to the conversation thank you very much for your time