Abstract

RODRIGUES, Eduardo Alexandre. The library and it’s ‘publics’: an interpretation. Sociologia, Problemas e Práticas [online]. 2007, n.53, pp.135-157. ISSN 0873-6529.

This essay presents a sociological interpretation of the "publics"/audiences of a public library which is part of the Portuguese Network of Public Libraries. The data obtained and the interpretations drawn from it in are put in the double framework of the sociology of culture and the sociology of social classes, particular emphasis being given to recent approaches of the so-called cultural "publics"/audiences. The analyses carried out also help to understand how the general objectives and missions of the Portuguese public network are carried out in a specific library. Particular importance is given to the analysis of the impacts of those missions and objectives on the social properties and the diverse modes of relationship with the library that characterize the people who use it.

Keywords : cultural "publics"/audiences; public libraries; social classes.

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