Mediatheques as informational centers for the development of municipal cultural actions: the case of Lille / France

Abstract

Objective: To describe the historical background, concept, characteristics and services of the municipal mediatheques of Lille, France. Thus, aiming to collaborate in the dissemination of French libraries in Brazilian territory through their paradigm, historical perspective, practices and services. Methods: This is a descriptive case study of a qualitative nature, also using bibliographic and documentary research. The search and selection of bibliographic materials that made up the theoretical framework of the research was carried out through French documents on websites, databases and printed materials. Results: In the mid-1970s, public libraries in France were renamed mediatheques. Conceived as a new cultural space, mediatheques (media libraries, multimedia libraries or media libraries) are based on the modern library paradigm, thus being linked to new professional practices, new (audiovisual) documents, new forms communication and information flows, reverting to new forms of access and representation of the library to society. Conclusions: The transformation of French libraries into media theques denotes, among many factors, the evolution of reading tastes and practices, the new forms of access and appropriation of emerging information flows, positioning themselves and representing for society a modern, necessary institution. welcoming and democratic.