Civic literacy projects in libraries: acting in the present thinking about the future

Abstract

Civic literacy is an area of the field of literacy’s that libraries should develop. In Portugal, in the Seixal Municipal Library, we have also focused, for several years, on the development of textual literacy and other specific literacy’s (as is the case of digital, media, visual and historic literacy’s). In 2007, we started a program of literacy for citizenship, “Rights for Right?” (“Direitos por Direito?”), a project in progress, that shows the importance we give to the growth of the field of literacy’s were we highlight the relevance of the literacy for citizenship, which is one of the basis for Human Rights, practices of active citizenship, social and cultural development based in the principles and values of democracy. In this paper we explain the thought process for literacy for citizenship with the presentation of the project “Rights for Right?”, which aims to promote, early, the knowledge of Human Rights as rights and basic freedoms of all human beings that allow people a conscious and informed life and an active and positive participation in society. Since literacy increasing projects are not dissociable of knowledge building processes, “Rights for Right?” is based in educational services logics and concepts, centered in the construction and exploration of a textual and multimedia “educational kit”; the elaboration of a pre-activity program for teachers; the production of several pedagogical aids for students; the promotion of workshops in schools in order to position the migration of educational kits. It promotes interaction, critical and active participation of the participants in an open project that incorporates the progressive experiences of the young people participating in the project. These confer an ethical significance, citizenship value and a sense of common responsibility in the collective life. By promoting civic literacy the libraries are working for the moment but also for the future.