Mediation has been considered one of the pillars of Information Science, being a practice that enables integration with other components studied in the area, as well as with other distinct fields of knowledge ( MACEDO; SILVA, 2015). Throughout its insertion in the scope of Information Science and Librarianship, information mediation has raised several studies in these areas. Some of those present discussions that encompass the most varied information environments and social groups, which have been integrated into the studies developed in the context of Information Science and Librarianship, such as subjects in freedom deprivation. Gradually, the prison population and prison environment have raised the interest of researchers in the area, especially concerning the prison library and the librarian's work in prison.

It is worth noting that the prison library is ensured by the Law of Criminal Enforcement nº 7.210 of 1984, but has its milestone of creation well before that, as highlighted by the imperial decree nº 8.386 of 1882, in Article 287, which states the following: "[...] there may be a library composed of books of pleasant and uplifting reading, for the use of prisoners, according to the degrees of intelligence and moral dispositions of each one.” ( BRASIL, 1882, p. 19, our translation).

Therefore, it is from the existence of prison libraries that the library practices in this space and the active participation of subjects deprived of freedom that information mediation can be effective. In this context, as highlighted by Sousa (2021), the actions developed by the librarian in prison go beyond the mere provision of books; they are mainly conducted by assisting educational, recreational, and cultural activities, thus promoting the expansion of knowledge through social interaction. They link the intramural and extramural community to be maintained. Thus, for the effectiveness of these actions, it is necessary, according to Cantero (2010), that the subject takes ownership of the activities developed and is a participatory agent.

Information mediation requires the active participation of the inmate, that practices are built with and for these people, aiming at their interaction and integration, and that the process may lead to the modification and construction of knowledge. This corroborates the view of Almeida Junior (2015) about information mediation being every action of interference performed by information professionals. This action can be developed consciously or unconsciously to promote the appropriation of information.

Therefore, we show that the mediation of information can contribute to the subjects deprived of the freedom to glimpse new perspectives through the promotion of reflective spaces that provide the construction of the prisoners' subjectivities. Furthermore, it can contribute to minimizing the effects of imprisonment and social exclusion experienced in prison.

Thus, we understand that the process of information mediation in prison may enable the individual to have greater autonomy within an imposing system, as this type of mediation cannot be effective without collective participation. Thus, the process of information mediation results in actions that modify daily life in prison, which is an environment marked by idleness and social isolation, factors that, according to Cantero (2010), hinder social reintegration.

In this context, this research aims to present information mediation as a contribution to the social reintegration of inmates. As specific objectives, the following were defined: to analyze whether the librarian who works or has worked in this environment can build services and activities of information mediation in prison and identify whether the librarian believes that information mediation can promote the return of the convict to living in freedom.

Even considering the specificity that involves the librarian's work in this environment, resulting from its structural framework that deals primarily with the normative context and punishment, we believe that the mediation of information tends to provide the deconstruction of this environment, thus allowing the population in prison to glimpse other perspectives beyond this environment, aiming at their return to life in the freedom that will occur eventually.

To build an informal mediation process in environments with deprivation of liberty is to break with the main characteristics established in the prison system since its origin and which somehow continue to prevail in the contemporaneity, an environment of social segregation, submission, oppression, and imposition.

We consider it necessary, before going specifically into information mediation in this space, to briefly discuss mediation in the scope of Information Science and some conceptions generated in the area. The concept of mediation in Information Science is emerging and has been gaining increased space among its researchers, with an increase of publications produced and presented in periodicals or scientific events, which enabled discussions about its epistemological and practical development. Moreover, mediation provides the interdisciplinarity of Information Science and Librarianship with other areas of knowledge, as highlighted by Carvalho (2016, p. 46, our translation):

Mediation is a historical and consistent concept linked to several areas of knowledge, such as Law (conflict mediation), communication and culture (mediation and cultural action), and education (mediation as an instrument of pedagogical practice), which has allowed a widespread, adaptation and conceptual import to other areas, including Information Science.

The author also highlights that in the context of Information Science and Librarianship, mediation gains the contours of an instrument to resolve conflicts linked to practical, empirical, and theoretical conceptions of information. However, when seeking to resolve these conflicts, mediation does not act to dissipate them but to transform them. In this sense, mediation is an element of the transformation of conceptions of information that can generate new conflicts and require other procedures for resolution ( CARVALHO, 2016).

Based on this perspective, we perceive mediation as a transforming element, generating new conflicts to promote solutions and new understandings, but which provides the emergence of questions that will generate other information needs for the subject. In this approach to the transforming process, we present the expanded concept of information mediation by Almeida Junior, which originated from his studies in 2009, and is constituted as the following:

Every action of interference - conducted in a process, by an information professional and in the ambiance of informational equipment - direct or indirect; conscious or unconscious; singular or plural; individual or collective; aiming at the appropriation of information that partially and momentarily satisfies an informational need, generating conflicts and new informational needs. ( ALMEIDA JÚNIOR, 2015, p. 25, our translation).

We infer from this conceptualization that information mediation is a process that can both satisfy and generate new informational needs and provides the construction of knowledge through the appropriation of information. The conflicts generated during the information process mediation allow the subjects involved in the mediating action to question and re-signify conceptions taken as certainties. We understand that as Sousa and Farias (2020) present the concept, information mediation can be understood as a process that cognitively adds builds knowledge and generates other anxiety.

We understand therefore that the mediation of information is an act of meaning construction, which allows the interactor to interpret their daily lives, their conditions, and perspectives of life. But for this construction of meaning, it is necessary to consider the information needs of the subjects, the knowledge acquired, and the context in which it is inserted. Given this, we emphasize how this process is essential for a subject who is deprived of freedom, establishing a dialogue with this social group, providing the collective discussion about their information needs and allowing them to have a voice, and the possibility of developing critical thinking regarding their momentary condition, and, perhaps, unveil themselves to a new reality that can be built into the return to life in freedom ( SOUSA; FARIAS, 2020).

It is important to highlight that the construction of knowledge occurs through the appropriation of information by the subject and constitutes an interaction between himself, the accessed information, the medium, and the constructed meanings since it is through all these relationships that the state of knowledge is changed. In this sense, the subject needs to relate the mediated action, his experiences, with his daily life and, from that, establish relations and apply the mediated information in his reality, building or expanding knowledge. This process of knowledge construction occurs through a complex movement between the possibility to develop critical thinking regarding their momentary condition, and, perhaps, unveiling themselves to a new reality that can be built in the return to life in freedom ( SOUSA; FARIAS, 2020) .

Thus, the process of information mediation is a set of interactions between the interactor, the information, and the mediator, not dealing, therefore, with the simple transfer of information, without considering the repertoire of knowledge or cognitive ability of the subject since, it is essential to consider all these aspects. Thus, information mediation is a process that demands specific actions according to each community, requiring from the mediator and group that builds the mediating action, the interest in promoting changes and awareness as to the practice developed. The mediator should be aware that information mediation goes beyond the simple dissemination or transfer of information, as it goes beyond the mere supply of materials, and the delivery of media that can meet a specific information demand ( ALMEIDA JÚNIOR; BORTOLIN, 2008).

Therefore, when we deal with information mediation for subjects deprived of freedom, we seek to contribute to promoting inclusion and social reintegration, a process that, according to Sá (2005, p. 11, our translation), should be the action through which “[...] society (re)includes those it excluded, through strategies in which these excluded have an active participation, that is, not as mere ‘objects of assistance’, but as subjects [...]”, i.e., basic principles of information mediation and that unite these two processes. Therefore, information mediation does not occur statically, but it is built through interposition and cooperation. In this perspective, according to Gomes (2014, p. 52, our translation), information mediation has:

[...] the sense of sharing, of cooperation, of openness to dialogue and to the movement that destabilizes and stabilizes knowledge, of openness to criticism and creativity, of openness also to the intersections between the "old" and the "new", which gives mediating action a certain characteristic of the substrate to self-knowledge and the interweaving of humility and self-esteem of the interlocutors of this action.

With this, we perceive that the meaning of information mediation refers to a process centered on dialogue, on the exchange between subjects, and mutual collaboration between all participants in the action, so that it may result in the appropriation of information and will require that it is being conducted consciously, considering all the specificity of the environment, of the participating subject, the established norms and the limitations imposed on the mediator.

We understand that the process of information mediation is complex and requires certain skills from everyone involved in the mediating action to be effective. However, when it comes to information mediation in the prison environment, the process requires even more attention, especially concerning the dynamics of the librarian's role as a mediator. To act in this environment, we consider that the professional needs to possess human skills, in addition to technical competence, due to the peculiarities inherent in the prison environment. Thus, it is necessary that this librarian performing the mediation of information in the prison system, performs it consciously, to enable an effective appropriation of information by the group or person who builds the mediating action.

Given the above, we realize that the premise of information mediation in prison is to promote social inclusion, even if only partially, serving as a link between the prisoner and the outside world, providing the development of actions from the perspective of autonomy and maintaining the link with the liberated society. Therefore, information mediation aims at inclusion through interaction and social transformation, based on social relations and practices that enable a change in reality.

Based on the objectives established in this study, we defined it as exploratory with a qualitative approach. The field research was subsidized by the use of the questionnaire as an instrument of data collection; the application was conducted by sending the link to the online form, prepared in Google Forms, via e-mail. We then elected the study population librarian who works or has worked in the Brazilian prison environment, the selection of participants occurred through the data obtained through a survey conducted by the Brazilian Commission of Prison Libraries to identify the professionals who worked with reading in environments with freedom deprivation in several Brazilian regions.

When filtering among the professionals who participated in the survey only librarians, there was a total of twelve, to whom the collection instrument was sent, the Term of Free and Informed Consent and a guiding document that presented, for example, concepts of information mediation to facilitate the understanding of the process and the completion of the questionnaire. During data collection, we noticed that two participants worked in the socio-educational system, which is not inserted in the scope of the prison system, and they were discarded. Of the remaining ten, nine responded and constituted the research sample.

To analyze the data, we opted for content analysis, with the establishment of categories that made it possible, to meet the objectives defined for the research based on what is advocated by Bardin (2009).

Considering the findings obtained from the empirical study, we moved to the treatment phase for the analysis of data based on the research objectives. For this, we defined two categories of analysis, which are actions that the librarian performs or performed in the prison environment considered as information mediation; and the librarian's perception of the mediation of information as a process that can favor the convict reintegration. From this categorization, we began the data analysis.

In the category of actions that the librarian performs or performed in the prison environment that he/she considers as information mediation, the goal was to be able to identify the process of information mediation and its possibilities, as well as to observe if the librarian can glimpse it in his/her performance in the prison environment, through the actions developed in this place.

It is possible to infer that information mediation permeates the librarian's entire work, even if indirectly and unconsciously because it is every action of interference performed by the information professional in informational environments ( ALMEIDA JÚNIOR, 2015). Therefore, we consider that the librarian working in a prison environment can also perform the information mediation process. We understand that information mediation is essential for appropriating knowledge so that the interactor can give meaning to the information and consequently can take a critical attitude towards the situations experienced in their daily lives.  

That said, when asking the librarians if, in the scope of their work in the prison environment, they built actions of information mediation, we found out that from the nine participants, seven of them answered yes, while two said no.

The data revealed that most librarians consider that their work in prison is based on information mediation, which, according to the sample, represents approximately 78% of the participants. To highlight the activities explained as information mediation actions, the following practices were presented:

Chart 1 -

Librarian	Information mediation actions in prisons
B1	Storytelling
B2	[...] we worked on the book and the film. Each film presentation was an opportunity for the prisoner to seek information because the films were based on books on books that they had access to in the library [...]. We worked on the stories and discussed values, [...] we discussed in class: family values, historical content [...].
B3	Loan
B4	Literary roundtables in prison
B5	Considers that all its activities are mediating actions
B6	All
B7	Reading club, creative writing, structuring the library, artistic production
B8	We are still building a more effective dynamization project according to their demands.
B9	We developed pamphlets or a booklet on pre-trial detention, I think that, to some extent, all the work I developed/contributed was related to information mediation

Source:

Elaborated by the authors.

In presenting the actions developed that they consider as information mediation actions, it is worth mentioning what was expressed by B5, B6, and B9, corroborating the understanding of Almeida Junior (2009) about information mediation surrounding the entire work of the information professional, and that it goes from the storage of information to its dissemination.

It is evident in the indicated activities that most librarians can perceive the practice of mediation of information in actions developed with people deprived of freedom, whether implicit or explicit, as highlighted in the speeches that reveal that all activities performed are considered related to mediation of information in the prison environment.

Among the actions considered as information mediation in the prison environment, it is possible to identify practices that range from implicit and explicit mediation, as understood by Gomes and Santos (2009) when highlighting that the implicit mediation of information is more linked to the activities of selection, acquisition, registration, cataloging, classification, and indexing - which there is not necessarily direct contact with the group it serves. While in the explicit mediation of information, there are what can be defined as finalistic activities, such as selective dissemination of information, storytelling, and reference services, among others.

It is evidenced in the speeches that most librarians can perceive the practice of information mediation in the actions developed with people deprived of freedom, whether implicit or explicit, as highlighted in the speeches that reveal to consider as related to information mediation all activities developed in the prison environment.

Activities such as workshops held in prison, in which the presence of the interactor is essential for it to be effective, and seek to promote the autonomy of the subjects, were also highlighted in the presented speeches. Therefore, we agree with the understanding of Almeida Júnior (2004) that, in their work, librarians should have the mediation of information as a guideline, so that they can change and transform their social action. Given the above, we highlight the relevance of information mediation within librarianship and show that the interference of this professional is essential in the mediation of explicit and implicit information.

However, it is important to note, that among the participants who said they provide the process of information mediation in their praxis in prison, the lending of books was reported as a mediating practice.

Given what was exposed by most librarians who said they work to promote information mediation in prison environments, and because we understand that this process, when effectively developed, enables individual and collective transformation, we seek to understand the perception of research participants about information mediation as a process that can provide the reintegration of prisoners, that is, in the return to life in the freedom of these people that will occur sooner or later. This is the second category of analysis of this research, in which it is interesting to note that even librarians who had answered previously that they 'do not develop information mediation activities in the prison environment, answered that they consider that mediation can facilitate the process of return to freedom.

We observed that of the nine participating librarians, seven answered without hesitation that they believe that information mediation can provide this process. However, it was found that two participants showed hesitations about the question asked, showing themselves unbelieving not specifically in the mediation process, but in the Brazilian prison system and its situation that does not provide the return to freedom of prisoners, as evidenced in their speeches presented in Chart 2.

Chart 2 -

Librarian	Information mediation actions in prisons
B1	Believe so. The incentive to read broadens their knowledge and makes them wish for a different life that led them to prison.
B2	Yes, by activities that work on the idleness of the inmate and promote debates to reflect on the situation he is in and how it can be transformed by knowledge.
B3	Yes, bringing a sense of continuity and values.
B4	Yes, information mediation meets the informational needs presented by prisoners. It expresses the democratization of information and exposes realities in the works that approach the context of the life of people deprived of liberty. [...] The perspectives trace a different path from the one that led the person to the prison environment.
B5	Yes, both in the reflexive rescue of their personal experiences, as well as in the possibility of acquiring new knowledge that stimulates their formation and widens their chances of reinsertion in extra-curricular society [...].
B6	Yes. It contributes to updating the inmate on the changes/news and general information about what is happening outside the prison walls. Complements the studies of the prisoners. [...] awaken interest in reading, contributing to the formation and/or development of character, empathy.
B7	I have a critical stance towards the idea of resocialization, and I believe that prison exists to facilitate the bodies [...]. I believe in reading and writing as one of the few tools for transforming the being inside prison, but I am not under the illusion that it is capable of changing this structure of the logic of capital, because when reading and writing manage to touch the process of "production of subjectivity" it produces a critical incarcerated reader, but this happens in few cases. And in this process, mediation is essential
B8	Yes. Through reading, inmates reduce anxiety, expand their learning capacity, improve their relations with society and reduce their sentences.
B9	I do not believe that prison is configured in such a way as to "reintegrate" an individual into society since its mechanism uses social exclusion and the stigma of specific bodies and groups [...]. Even with the existence of educational and cultural activities in these environments, there are the overriding effects of imprisonment on the subject and his relationships. [...] However, even though I do not consider the validity of the so-called "social reinsertion", I still defend that people in prison have access to education, to reading, and the entire cultural heritage that all human beings are entitled to [...], that is, I think of access to information and culture not in its "utilitarian" dimension linked to "reinsertion", but from the perspective of human rights, regardless of the situation in which the subjects are [...].

Source:

Elaborated by the authors.

As we can see in the speech given by librarians, several possibilities are provided by the practice of information mediation in the prison environment. This fact reveals that even in the face of the specificities of prison and the difficulties faced, information mediation can contribute to the return to living in the freedom of prisoners, provided that the practices are articulated in a way that provides the assignment of meanings, which is not something distant from the reality of the prisoner as presented by some librarians. Only then, information mediation can help in the development of critical thinking and, consequently, facilitate the process of reintegration of prisoners.

As for what was expressed by B7 and B9, who are more reticent about the prison environment not promoting reintegration, we understand that they derive from the paradoxical context of prison, which involves the idea of repressing, keeping away from society and then wanting to reintegrate. Thus, they converge to the understanding of prison as a form of social control and the prison system as an ideological apparatus that hinders the reintegration of people who enter prisons, we agree with Lopes and Almeida Júnior (2020, p. 59, our translation), when they state that during this situation “[...] the mediation of information is the instrumentalization of the rupture of this hegemony”, having in the librarian's mediation the possibility of this rupture, as presented by most participants.

Therefore, when dealing with information mediation in the prison environment, we cannot fail to emphasize the difficulties faced by librarians for the effectiveness of this process, since, as highlighted by Monteiro (2019, p. 41, our translation), the incarcerated population “[...] often has an unusual literacy that makes it impossible to appropriate informational devices [...]”. Additionally, the restrictive structure of the prison hinders the development of actions that may be considered inappropriate for the place.

However, it is possible to provide evidence in the speeches of librarians that their practice in the prison environment tries to change this daily routine, providing the population deprived of freedom the possibility of a space for reflection, which aims to acquire new knowledge, and thus, even minimally, enable the social reintegration of these people. Thus, for information mediation to be effective, the librarian must overcome the structural barriers of the environment, to achieve the active participation of the prisoner because without this interaction information mediation process cannot be effective.

In this context, we understand that, by using information mediation in prison, the librarian can contribute to minimizing the effects of institutionalization and structural prejudice that permeate the prison environment and the prison population. As highlighted by Lopes and Almeida Júnior (2020, p. 62, our translation) “thinking about mediation in these spaces is to think that the mediator, before anything else, is an agent of deconstruction”, and, therefore, it is necessary to seek to develop actions that allow this population to realize other possibilities, and that mediation practices engendered are not seen as mere welfaree or privilege, but as a human right, which should be ensured to anyone, including those who are in environments with deprivation of liberty.

We can infer that the mediation process permeates the librarian's work in the prison environment, whether consciously or unconsciously. According to the research conducted, librarians presented in their speech activities that are essential to enable the process of information mediation, such as when they allow the listening of the inmate, by promoting discussion spaces in which the detainee has the freedom to present their perception about a movie, or a book, or when they enable the realization of workshops about the time of imprisonment and by providing information to the inmates' families about the prison rules, about what can and what should not be taken on a visit. Additionally, we found that some librarians perceive information mediation in all their practices in the prison environment.

As for the mediation of information providing or not the social reinsertion of the convict, we understand that most participants agree with this perspective when answering affirmatively to this questioning and evidencing how this practice can make the return of the person imprisoned to living in freedom feasible. Aspects such as enabling debate, reflexive rescue, contributing to the prisoner maintaining the link with the world outside prison, and providing the expansion of knowledge, were presented.

We conclude that, even in a punitive and oppressive context that does not offer the necessary conditions to provide the reintegration process, information mediation still presents itself as a possibility to change this context and minimize the effects of imprisonment experienced in prison, considering that even the two librarians who were critical of the reintegration process at the end of their reflections nodded that it is possible and that it should be part of the librarian's practice, even if the prison environment, and all its structure that aims primarily at punishment, hinders the realization of mediated actions, or even if the mediation process can reach a wider percentage of the prison population.