It Presents an overview of the educational discourses of Cecília Meireles and Armanda Álvaro Alberto who, in the 1930s and 1940s, fought for a public, lay and quality education. The article reports the engagement of both women with issues related to Public and School Libraries and retrieves the ideas of Cecília Meireles and Armanda Álvaro Alberto on topics such as: choosing books for children; the construction of a children's literature with its own characteristics and peculiarities; educational projects; Creation of collection and studies on the readings practices of children and juveniles. Furthermore, some experiences of what is considered the first children's public library in Brazil, "Pavilhão Mourisco", an initiative of Cecília Meireles, as well as reading projects aimed at children, teenagers and adults created by Armanda Álvaro Alberto. Moreover, it is discussed the importance of libraries to the socio - educational development of children, juveniles and adults and the decisive presence of the librarian as the mediator of the Triad book-reading-library.
Public Libraries; School Libraries; Books; Reading; History of libraries; History of Education