Search

We are in the United Nations Literacy Decade (2003-2012), under the banner of "Literacy for all: voice for all, learning for all". Recognizing that the subject is of relevant importance not only in Brazil but to all states, this article aims to inquire if alphabetization is in fact a human right and, if it is, why we are so far from eliminating or at least substantially reducing the number of analphabets in the world. With this scope, the reading of pertinent literature was made, through corresponding legislation, books and articles, as well as the analysis of statistic database produced by IBGE and UNESCO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contextualizes the issue of reading in Brazil based on government and society initiatives and on the impact of this phenomenon as the baseline to improve human development indices. The authors describe the Extended Studies Project of the Information Science Institute of the Federal University of Bahia--the ''Livro Livre Salvador'' [[Salvador Free Book]] which is intended to encourage the habit of pleasure reading and the will to improve knowledge with a view to achieve social inclusion and human development. The project gathers together a broad spectrum of government and civil society joint efforts to promote democratic access to books and reading, and uses the strategy of moving books around based on an annual scheduled among places of large concentration of people in central, popular, and peripheral districts of the city whose population has varying opportunities to access this cultural asset. The paper also presents the deposition of individuals who benefited with this initiative and shows the progress and the weak points of the initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]