Dauzan, war veteran-turned mobile librarian<\/p>\n
By Israr Ardiansyah<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): At a flea market behind the Beringharjo
\nmarket, Dauzan Farook sat and glanced at a student going through
\na magazine with a model in a swimming suit on the cover.<\/p>\n
Dauzan, a stooped man in his seventies, took out a stack of
\nneatly bound back issues of news and religious magazines, and
\noffered them to the young man. \"Take a look at these. They are
\nbetter than the one you are holding now,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"Those magazines! They are not read in my dormitory,\" the
\nyoung man said, continuing to browse through magazines with more
\nalluring covers. \"In my dormitory, it's these magazines that go
\nfrom hand to hand,\" he said, pointing to a photograph of
\nsupermodel Claudia Schiffer.<\/p>\n
Dauzan was dejected. \"Cultural trash has soiled young people's
\nminds. Even a free offer of good magazines is rejected,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Traveling kilometers from one spot in Yogyakarta to another,
\ncollecting books and magazines and offering them to people free
\nof charge is all part of Dauzan's daily activities.<\/p>\n
\"This is how the Mabulir library works,\" he said proudly.
\n\"Mabulir\", a mobile library, stands for Majalah dan Buku Bergilir
\nmeaning magazines and books in circulation.<\/p>\n
Dauzan was born in 1925 and lives in the Moslem neighborhood
\nof Kauman in Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
\"I am doing this to express my thanks to Allah. He gave me the
\nopportunity to do some good after I became seriously ill,\" he
\nsaid. \"One of the causes of my illness in 1990 was my smoking
\nhabit.<\/p>\n
\"I vowed that if I became well again, I'd use the money I
\nusually spent for cigarettes on activities that benefit the
\ncommunity,\" he said.<\/p>\n
That was how the ambulant library was born. Dauzan bought old
\nmagazines, bound them neatly in plastic coverings, cut out
\nphotographs and articles he considered \"uneducational\" and
\nsometimes glued in \"good stories\" containing religious messages.<\/p>\n
\"Most people like to read magazines with general contents. By
\ninserting religious pieces, people will often read them too,\"
\nsaid Dauzan. \"I would like people to increase their interest in
\nreading and acquire an additional knowledge of religion.\"<\/p>\n
He then produced a copy of the banned Tempo magazine which he
\ndoctored and combined with the Suara Muhammadiyah.<\/p>\n
Guerrilla<\/p>\n
If Dauzan's technique in getting people to read \"good
\nmagazines\" sounds like a guerrilla warfare, he has good reason.
\nAfter Indonesia's independence in 1945, he joined Battalion 25 of
\nHizbullah TKR\/TKI and became a soldier under Lt. Col. Soeharto
\n(now President of Indonesia) of the SWK 101\/Wehrkreise-Regiment
\n22 unit.<\/p>\n
Every day he goes on foot, offering to lend his magazines to
\npeople he meets at mosques, offices, the bank where he collects
\nhis pension allowance and to pedicab drivers. He chooses his
\nclients according to the theme of the magazines he is carrying
\nwith him. To bank employees, for example, he gives articles on
\nbanking.<\/p>\n
To monitor the circulation of his magazines, Dauzan has
\nestablished several reading groups. In this way, he can leave a
\npackage of 25 copies with a group coordinator.<\/p>\n
When the lending term expires, Dauzan's three assistants will
\ncollect the magazines from about 150 reading groups who then
\nreceive a new package of magazines.<\/p>\n
\"The reading groups must be monitored and fostered. I always
\npoint out that lost books and magazines are the community's loss.
\nWe are now at war with bad magazines, programs on TV, radio and
\nin the cinema. Good books and magazines are expensive,\" Dauzan
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The \"Mabulir\" library operates on Dauzan's pension and his
\nearnings as a freelance writer for Suara Muhammadiyah owned by
\nthe Muhammadiyah Moslem organization. His eight children, who are
\nwell established, support his activities by sending him magazines
\nand money.<\/p>\n
Dauzan recruited his assistants in 1995.<\/p>\n
\"I am 72 now. I am not as strong as before. Who is going to
\nfollow in my footsteps if I do not prepare some cadres? I pay my
\nassistants a salary that is hopefully enough for transportation
\nand food,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Budi Agus, 34, Dauzan's first assistant, quit his previous job
\nas a silk-screen copier to work at the library full time.
\nBurhanudin Nasution, 20, from Medan is a student at the
\nYogyakarta Maritime Academy and Susilo, 17, is a student at a
\ntechnical college in Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
\"I love reading, and I know how it feels to want to read and
\nnot have the money to buy books, therefore I like to work here,\"
\nsaid Budi.<\/p>\n
The three assistants are a great help. The circulation of
\nMabulir books has now reached the peripheries of Yogyakarta. Even
\nthe cities of Sragen and Surakarta, 70 kilometers east of
\nYogyakarta, have \"Mabulir\" reading groups.<\/p>\n
The circulation of Mabulir books is not limited to urban
\nareas. After four or five years the books are circulated in rural
\nareas where they are donated to village or mosque libraries. \"The
\ndistribution of books to villages is mostly done by students
\ndoing fieldwork for their studies,\" Dauzan said.<\/p>\n
\"Most libraries experience the problem of limited funds. It is
\none of the reasons for the decrease in the community's reading
\ninterest, \" said Dauzan who attended Gadjah Mada University's
\nSchool of Letters in the 1950s.<\/p>\n
Dauzan said many people are attracted by his ideas and have
\ndonated to the Mabulir library. His collection of magazines now
\ncomprises 7,000 copies.<\/p>\n
\"I refuse financial donations because I do not want people to
\nthink the library is for my personal gain. People wanting to help
\ncan donate their books and magazines. I would be happy if
\nsomebody opened a similar library. What counts for me is the
\nidea, not the person,\" said Dauzan.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/dauzan-war-veteran-turned-mobile-librarian-1447893297",
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