A biblioteca universitária na formação acadêmica : história da Biblioteca Central da Universidade de Caxias do Sul e sua relação com a aprendizagem e o sucesso acadêmico

Abstract

Libraries are conservation spaces of intellectual, literary, artistic and scientific heritage of societies and have an inseparable relation with universities. Through libraries, knowledge produced by the human being is accessed and improved in an academic atmosphere. The present dissertation presents a narrative of the story and the experiences of the Central Library of the University of Caxias do Sul and proposes a reflection about the contribution of this library in academic education. For this purpose, it analyses the role of the academic library while learning space and its relation to academic success of the students. The construction of the historical context was based on studies linked to the cultural history. The Central Library of the University of Caxias do Sul was founded in 1970 and over these forty-four years of history; it went through several changes in its spaces and collections, aiming to fulfil legal requirements and supply community demands, as well as to adjust to new information technology. Many of the changes relate to the issued decree nº 2.026/1996, which established the procedures for the evaluation of the courses and the higher education institutions, and in relation to the University Libraries, it entailed the improvement of the physical facilities and its collections. Considering that library, university and knowledge are intrinsically linked, this dissertation analyses the libraries as learning spaces. The theoretical basis about the learning process was made from studies of Lev Vygostky, as well as the library with a learning space and its relation to academic success based on several authors in the area. Regarding the relation between the use of the Central Library of the University of Caxias do Sul and academic success, a semi-structured interview with nine laureate students of the university from 2005 to 2012 was made. The objective of this interview was to verify, through testimonies and narratives from the former students, the contribution of the library to their academic success. In addition to the interviews, data related to the academic average grades and about the number of lendings, made by the laureate interviewed and their classmates. Based on interviews, it was found that the importance of the library is assigned subjectively, because of personal experiences of those who experience its spaces. Among many non-formal learning environments, the library stands out, since there is intention on its use, in other words, people that visit it, do it on their own will and initiative. The analyses of the data related to the academic avarage grades and to the number of lendings showed that there is a relation between the two variables, suggesting that the library contributes to academic success.