Education & Mediation
The Rocha Peixoto Municipal Library is a learning space open to the educational community and a place that fosters the development of the personality of children and young people and the quality of life of adults and the elderly. In addition to being the central institution of the municipal policy of encouraging reading that guides the activity of 18 reading hubs of the municipality, it implements various cultural and educational extension activities.
The Educational Service of the Municipal Library seeks to broaden its reach, stimulating the involvement of Private Social Solidarity Institutions (IPSS) of the municipality, with which it establishes partnerships for the implementation of the Cultural Extension Programme "Itinerant Books". This activity has included the following initiatives since 2007:
The Educational Service of the Municipal Library seeks to broaden its reach, stimulating the involvement of Private Social Solidarity Institutions (IPSS) of the municipality, with which it establishes partnerships for the implementation of the Cultural Extension Programme "Itinerant Books". This activity has included the following initiatives since 2007:
• Biblioboxes: an itinerant service of collective book loans and the promotion of reading in Private Social Solidarity Institutions with educational functions, which complement the public network: Pre-School Education – Nursery Schools, Basic Education, and Free Time Activities - ATL. On average, more than 1,000 books are lent each year, around 50 reading sessions are held and around 1,000 children are encompassed.
• Book Readings in the Hospital: lively reading sessions and book offers in the Paediatric Department of S. Pedro Pescador Hospital in Póvoa de Varzim, promoting the well-being of the hospitalised child and contributing to the humanisation of the hospital environment. They are adapted to the age and state of health of each child and in accordance with the schedules and guidelines of health professionals. The sessions are promoted fortnightly by the officials of the Library's Educational Service, and the companions and relatives of hospitalized children are also present. It covers an average of 150 children each year.
The Library also promotes Storytime in the Municipal Library Network, holds Reading Week, which is in its 13th edition in 2019, and has Library Stock in Braille. It directly contributes to the annual programme of activities of the Correntes d’Escritas Literary Festival, in February, and the Book Fair, in August. Part of these initiatives, especially the Book Fair, has the partnership of the Cine-Teatro Garrett cinema-theatre, which is directly responsible for holding various workshops: creative writing, reading and drawing, puppets, readings followed by artistic activities, among others.