Upon request of ASSABIL association, a meeting takes place in Marseille from 7 to 10 April 2015, within the framework of cooperation between the cities of Marseille and Beyrouth, and in partnership with MEDiaKitab association. Professionals in the field of culture are coming from different countries in the Mediterranean area and from Brazil to reflect upon the stakes involved in public cultural centres that are located in underprivileged areas. Most of developing countries have experienced fast growing urbanization. As a consequence, landlocked underprivileged areas have developed and suffer from social and economical problems. In these neighbourhoods, the settlement of cultural spaces is both a challenge for cultural action and a potential vehicle forincreased social cohesion and development.
ASSABIL team’s desire to question the traditional model of public library happens within the context of the establishment of its fourth library in the area of Tariq el Jdideh : how can we integrate a public space dedicated to public reading in a environment which is not used to this practice ? How can we take into account the specific needs of the community and adapt cultural action to a conflict environment ? How can we promote and enlarge the cultural content and services ?
The questions are echoed in the experience of the participants, who come from Algeria, Brazil, Egypt, Morroco, Lebanon and France. They manage libraries or associations involved in social and cultural projects in difficult e
nvironments. The Brazilian experience of park libraries in favelas is specially focused.
These issues have been linked with the current debates in French public libraries about the concept of “Hybrid Library” : hybrid because of formats (digital and papers), the audiences and their expectation, and because of the design of the environment infrastructure. The questions raise complex issues all over the world, in different environements.
Results of the working group will be published on the blog.
