The Regional Network of School Libraries of the Azores (RRBE) will now cover 10 of the 40 school establishments of the regional education system in the 2017/2018 school year, as decided by the Regional Secretary for Education and Culture.
 
This measure is implemented by the Regional Directorate for Education and coordinated by RRBEA. In this context, the school library programme, which cover four schools on the islands of São Miguel, Terceira and Faial in the last two school years, will now cover about 10,500 students, including the school establishments of Pico and Santa Maria.
 
The Regional Directorate for Education and RRBE will provide these schools and their libraries with the necessary conditions to dynamic centres where different literacies are combined with knowledge and school success.
 
The Regional Network of School Libraries of the Azores programme aims to improve the development of public school libraries in the archipelago, providing them with the opportunity to train human resources and equip them with more resources.
 
Moreover, this programme also intends to provide guidance in key areas such as the organisation and management of school libraries as well as the implementation of rules on the installation of school libraries and the evaluation model.
 
Since 2014, the Regional Network of School Libraries has been developing cooperative efforts with the school libraries from all educational establishments in the Azores in order to meet the goal of "establishing partnerships with local cultural institutions and associations, promoting the active involvement of families and other players and implementing activities to promote reading."
 
This process is primarily intended to contribute to an effective development of school libraries by investing in information literacy, reading and media, which are priorities in the Integrated Plan for the Promotion of School Success - ProSucesso.
 
The RRBE was implemented as a pilot project in the 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 school years, involving Praia da Vitória Basic Education School (Terceira), Maia Basic Education School (São Miguel), Domingos Rebelo Secondary School (São Miguel) and Manuel de Arriaga Secondary School (Faial).
 
From the next school year, the RRBE will also include Água de Pau and Ribeira Grande Basic Education Schools and Laranjeiras Secondary School on the island of São Miguel, Lajes do Pico and Santa Maria Basic Education and Secondary Schools, and Francisco Ferreira Drummond Basic Education School on the island of Terceira.