The Secretary of Culture and Creative Economy of the State of São Paulo launched, this Thursday (9), the free digital library of the state of São Paulo, BibliON, which opens with a collection of more than 15 thousand titles and a wide range of cultural activities, such as reading clubs and training workshops.
The initiative received a total investment of R$ 10 million from the Government of São Paulo (an additional R$ 5 million each year) and will interact with the approximately 330 municipal libraries that make up the State System of Public Libraries (SisEB.), located in 240 cities in the state. The objective is that the project promotes the continuous training of library professionals and causes the growth of users, both of the digital and physical libraries.
“BibliON will allow us to expand access and encourage the habit of reading. The new platform has the same status and importance as state libraries and the SiSEB system. An institution of a continuous and permanent character, which will accompany all technological and people evolution”, said the Secretary of Culture and Creative Economy Sérgio Sá Leitão. “BibliON will be a powerful instrument for Brazil to become a country of readers. In this first year of operation, each title in the collection of 15,000 books will be read 1 million times.”
The collection of the new platform, managed by SP Leituras, the Social Organization responsible for the São Paulo Library (BSP), the Parque Villa-Lobos Library (BVL) and the São Paulo State Public Library System (SisEB) will be constantly updated. Also will contain titles of the most varied genres, areas of knowledge and languages, in the format of digital books (e-books) and audiobooks.
The project also includes reading clubs, podcasts, seminars, training and workshops, in addition to other cultural and educational activities, to streamline its use and encourage public interactions, both with it and with physical libraries.
“Contemporary public libraries in the world are the most modern in terms of investment in culture and creative economy. But, for this statement to be true, it is necessary that the projects are designed to privilege not only the collection but also – and mainly – the user, through a varied offer of services that make up knowledge beyond reading”, said the executive director of SP Readings, Pierre André Ruprecht. “That’s why BibliON’s essence comprises the concept of a digital library, not as a replacement for local libraries, but integrated as a way to grow its audience.
The user can borrow up to two simultaneous works, for 15 days. BibliON allows actions such as organizing lists, adding favorites, sharing a book as a reading tip on social networks, making reservations, viewing history and suggesting new acquisitions. Through gamification principles, members are able to track statistics of time-spent reading and participate in challenges.
Moreover, the search system allows the user to use different filters, such as theme, author, category or title. It is possible to read on mobile devices, without the need to use cell phone data, by previously downloading the title or even adjusting the font size and screen contrast; choose different reading modes for day or night and trigger the reading in synthesized voice, for audio output of the text.
To use the free service, interested parties simply access www.biblion.org.br or download the BibliON application, available on Google Play and Apple Store, and complete a brief registration.
BSP Digital
BibliON is the extension of a pilot project started in January 2020 and which made available just over a thousand works. In more than a year of activity, there were more than 27 thousand book loans.
