"We are libraries! Public, Municipal, of all!!" Campaign / Campanha "Somos Bibliotecas! Públicas, Muncipais, De todos!"

From the initiative of the Working Group of Public Libraries of the Portuguese Association of Librarians, Archivists and Documentalists (BAD) the Campaign "We are Libraries: Public, Municipal, Of All!" aims to launch an advocacy action that is intended at the national level to present and promote the services and activities of the Public and Municipal Libraries to the public in general and to raise the attention of decision makers in this area. As a central element of communication, the campaign will have as its main focus a website containing all campaign information, including: the manifesto of the municipal libraries, posters and leaflets on the campaign, a simulation application to calculate the value of the library, a interactive map of public libraries in Portugal and a repository of materials, including videos, photographs, testimonies and opinions. A petition addressed to the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities and the Portuguese Parliament will also be created as a way of alerting to the current situation of the Portuguese Public Libraries and to call for the creation of a normative framework that defines the minimum requirements for Municipal Libraries. It is intended to be an extended campaign in time, which will collect testimonies and opinions from users of libraries and other citizens, professionals in the area of Information and Documentation and related areas, as well as personalities known to the general public. In this way, we seek to contribute to the valorization and social relevance of these equipment, bringing the public libraries closer to the citizens and placing them in a prominent place in society. https://bad.pt/somosbibliotecas/