School library anti-racist and sustainable education practices

Abstract

This is an experience report on the project “Care, Respect, and Sustain”, developed in the library of UME Padre Waldemar Valle Martins, in Santos (SP), with children from the early years of Elementary School. Grounded in Laws 10.639/03 and 11.645/08, the project uses reading mediation as a practice for valuing Afro-diasporic, African, and Indigenous cultures, as well as Black identities, through children’s literature for classes from 1st to 5th grade. The methodology combines literary curation, reading mediations, dialogue circles, and family reading practices, involving around 30 works that address diversity, identity, social, and environmental justice. By transforming the library into an educational territory of resistance, the experience fostered the engagement of children and their families, strengthening historically silenced narratives and building positive self-esteem. The results demonstrate family involvement and the reinforcement of valuing Black cultures and understanding the effects of racism, both among children and their relatives.