Libraries in public education in Maranhão Empire: books, readings and readers

ABSTRACT This article describes the libraries of Maranhão in the Brazilian Imperial period as spaces of sociability according to their nature, function and projection, analyzing the role of these institutions in public education in the province of Maranhão. It identifies and compares the strategies in use by the Portuguese Reading Office, the Provincial Public Library and the Popular Library of Maranhão for their establishment, operation and access, stimulating the formation of readers and distinct reading practices in different target audiences. Cultural history is used as a theoretical-methodological approach, crossing different sources: reports/official letters from provincial presidents and public education inspectors, education laws and regulations, minute books, the local press and regional literature.