Staff
The staff of libraries is generally hired by the City Hall Department of Culture, being the State Department of Culture, the employers in large libraries. However, the State of Acre is the employer in cities where the city hall has not been in charge of the local Public Library. Motivated by the national policy to reset the number of cities without libraries, some State systems such as the system of the State of Acre, have set up libraries in cities and began to implement them with goal to transfer its management to the city halls in the short or medium term. The staff has diversified background and often does not count with librarian(s).
Amongst the libraries of this study sample, the small ones typically do not rely on librarians (exception to São Paulo and Guarulhos). Among the medium-size and large libraries, it is common to have a librarian. The State of Bahia Library, with strong performance in memory preservation has a large number of librarians, at least one for each section. They work with organization and preservation of printed material. In this same library, there is a core group responsible for cultural library activities. The team does not have only librarians, but cultural producers, journalists, historians, as well as students of these areas. In the State of Acre libraries, we did not identify any librarian working in the system or in the libraries visited. In this state, the library staff has professionals with diverse backgrounds. State of Acre libraries are strong in promoting activities and integration with the public but weak in organizing the collection of small libraries. Even the large, modern and active Library of the State of Acre has not available its computerized collection on the Internet. The absence of librarians seems to influence also the non use of the Federal Government Notices to update the library collection. On the other hand, libraries coordinated by multidisciplinary teams of professionals offer a richer agenda of activities for the population.
The professional development for the staff members who work in city hall libraries are offered many times by the State systems. The most common courses are those that address the basics of library organization and management to employees who are not trained in Library Science. The turnover of libraries' staff was a problem that was mentioned frequently by who represents local government and coordination of libraries. The professional development offered for technology integration in the actions of the library is restricted to training for use of digital collection management software. We did not identify the training in order to make the teams integrate technology in other areas of the libraries. The staff responsible for the supervision of use of library computers receives training with a focus on technical areas, without guidance for technology use in cultural activities involving users' expression and authoring.
Amongst the libraries of this study sample, the small ones typically do not rely on librarians (exception to São Paulo and Guarulhos). Among the medium-size and large libraries, it is common to have a librarian. The State of Bahia Library, with strong performance in memory preservation has a large number of librarians, at least one for each section. They work with organization and preservation of printed material. In this same library, there is a core group responsible for cultural library activities. The team does not have only librarians, but cultural producers, journalists, historians, as well as students of these areas. In the State of Acre libraries, we did not identify any librarian working in the system or in the libraries visited. In this state, the library staff has professionals with diverse backgrounds. State of Acre libraries are strong in promoting activities and integration with the public but weak in organizing the collection of small libraries. Even the large, modern and active Library of the State of Acre has not available its computerized collection on the Internet. The absence of librarians seems to influence also the non use of the Federal Government Notices to update the library collection. On the other hand, libraries coordinated by multidisciplinary teams of professionals offer a richer agenda of activities for the population.
The professional development for the staff members who work in city hall libraries are offered many times by the State systems. The most common courses are those that address the basics of library organization and management to employees who are not trained in Library Science. The turnover of libraries' staff was a problem that was mentioned frequently by who represents local government and coordination of libraries. The professional development offered for technology integration in the actions of the library is restricted to training for use of digital collection management software. We did not identify the training in order to make the teams integrate technology in other areas of the libraries. The staff responsible for the supervision of use of library computers receives training with a focus on technical areas, without guidance for technology use in cultural activities involving users' expression and authoring.