Br. José Otão Main Library: a life of teaching, culture and technology

Find out more about PUCRS library and its collection

Libraries are more than a physical space to keep books: they are historical symbols of knowledge, from the shelves of your home to entire collections located in major library buildings. PUCRS has, for over 40 years, been home to the Br. José Otão Main Library is located in the heart of our Main Campus.

Originated from the collection located at Colégio Rosário in 1940, the University Campus opened its doors to the Library in 1967. Just over a decade later, in 1978, it was expanded to an area as large as ​​10,000 m² in the middle of the Campus, in Building 16, on the Main Campus. In November of this year, the library will celebrate 42 years of existence at PUCRS.

In 2008, the incorporation of a 14-floor building to the old structure, saw the Library increase in size: 21,000 m². Among the innovations that were presented after the remodeling actions lies the Espaço Cultural. With 360 m², new services began to be offered. Now the community can check and enjoy the most varied expressions of culture.

In the last five years alone, more than 40 exhibitions open to the public were held at no charge. These include the exhibit  Leonardo da Vinci: Gênio Universal, with replicas of paintings and drawings certified by  Museo Leonardiano di Vinci  and replicas of some machines Leonardo da Vinci developed himself. Other highlights include the exhibition Iret-Neferet, a Múmia Egípcia de Cerro Largo-Símbolos e Rituais de Mumificação (Iret-Neferet, the Egyptian Mummy of Cerro Largo – Symbols and Rituals of Mummification), which presented to the public the head of an Egyptian mummy that arrived in Brazil in the 50s and whose age, sex and origin was confirmed by PUCRS researchers.

Technology and pioneering spirit as expressions of its identify

The Brother José Otão Main Library is considered one of the most modern libraries in South America. This recognition translates the pioneering spirit in the use of software and technologies for the tracking and identification of documents by radio frequency, as well as the use of self-checkout and automated return equipment.

The entire system allows the academic community to check out more than 1,600.000 items at no charge. These items include, among printed and electronic books, theses and dissertations, leaflets, rare works, multimedia materials, databases, printed and electronic data and periodicals. You can get access to the collection twenty-four hours a day through Omnis – an online search tool.

Among other innovations implemented by the Library over the years, is the availability of short tutorial videos for the use of technological resources, reference management software  (allowing users to put together the references in documents and format papers in appropriate styles) and research support tools (guidelines for bibliographic research and writing styles).

The Main Library is also accessible for people with special needs, and includes equipment and software for people with visual or hearing impairments. The academic community and external audiences can use an exclusive room for visually-impaired individuals, on the 2^nd floor. A variety of assistive technology resources, screen reading software and software for conversion of written text into spoken audio, in addition to the  spoken books collection is also available. Videos are also available in Brazilian Sign Language.

Committed to quality service, the Br. José Otão Main Library has been promoting and advancing the autonomy of its users. As a national reference in university libraries, it makes every effort to meet the demands of the academic community to continue working as center of research and culture with facilities open to the general public.

Click here to find out more about the services and resources the Library has to offer.