MEC BOOKS

ACCESS AND USE BY BASIC EDUCATION TEACHERS IN MARANHÃO

Abstract

The MEC Books Program, launched by the Ministry of Education in April 2026, is a public policy aimed at expanding access to reading and democratizing knowledge through a digital library for the Brazilian educational community. Considering the recent implementation of the initiative, it is relevant to understand its reach among Basic Education professionals. The objective of this research was to identify the level of knowledge, access, and use of the MEC Books Program by teachers in the municipal, state, and federal public school systems of the state of Maranhão. This is a descriptive study, with a quantitative approach, conducted through an electronic questionnaire with 112 education professionals. Preliminary results showed that a significant portion of the participants still have limited knowledge about the program and indicate that low institutional dissemination and lack of training are the main barriers to its use. Despite this, teachers recognize the platform's potential to support pedagogical practices, reading incentive projects, and teacher training processes. It is concluded that the MEC Books Program represents an innovative strategy to strengthen access to information and reading in the educational context, although it needs improvements related to training, guidance, reading mediation, and technological enhancements to increase its effectiveness.