Public library as place of cultural practices: a socio-historical discuss

Abstract

This study aims to chart and discuss, under a socio-historical perspective, the relationships between the public libraries and the universe of human cultural practices. Following this goal, first we point out that cultural practices must be understood as the set of the many symbolic manifestations devised by an individual or society to attribute multiple interpretations to the surrounding world. Subsequently, taking this definition as a theoretical basis, we try to shed light on the question: to what extent the public libraries can be considered to be "place of cultural practices"? To do so, we will employ some artifices: in a first moment, it will be stressed that no cultural practices are complete in themselves, always demanding a certain materiality to acquire meaning and visibility; by its turn, this materiality brings together public libraries and the set of tactics and strategies which characterize cultural practices. In a second moment, we will highlight that all the public libraries’ functions – the cultural, informational, recreational and educational ones – are more evident when related to issues concerning memory, culture, education and reading. These artifices will eventually allow us to support that public libraries are indeed "places of cultural practices" since they help us to elaborate representations for the many social, political and cultural sceneries where our lives evolve, fructifying knowledge and contributing to the preservation and diffusion of the human material and intellectual patrimony.