Bibliotecas especializadas de arquivo e a sustentação da memória pública : análise da Biblioteca José Alves Filho - BJAF como unidade estratégica de informação

Abstract

This monograph investigates the role of the José Alves Filho Library (BJAF), linked to the Public Archive of the State of Sergipe (APES), as a specialized information unit embedded in an archival context, serving as a research environment. The research, which is qualitative, applied, and descriptive in nature, adopts a case study as the methodological strategy to analyze how BJAF contributes to the preservation of the bibliographic and documentary heritage of the State, despite its symbolic and social recognition still being limited in relation to its institutional relevance. Grounded in the concepts of institutional memory, places of memory (Nora, 1993), and archival libraries (Bellotto, 2003), the investigation reveals the importance of BJAF as a technical and meaningful space for maintaining the administrative and cultural identity of Sergipe. Through documentary analysis and direct observation, it is found that, although undervalued, the library fulfills essential functions for informational continuity and public governance, acting as a link between the institutional past and contemporary management. The study also proposes guidelines to strengthen archival libraries as strategic structures within the public memory ecosystem. By highlighting a little-studied unit, the research broadens the debate about the role of specialized libraries in preserving the informational legacy of the State, emphasizing that without a library there is no archive, and without an archive there is no legitimized public memory. Highlighting such topics in the Library Science and Documentation course at UFS is fundamental, especially because, in the Sergipe context, units like BJAF also serve as internship fields that enrich the practical and critical training of students.