Brit Council library in new home

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Starting on Monday, around 7,000 members of the British Council can visit its library now located in the compound of the Ministry of National Education, opposite the site of its old premises on Jl. Sudirman, Central Jakarta.

The new library appears spacious and well-designed, standing out among the older buildings within the ministry compound.

"The library is on the ground floor, so the public will easily access it," Director of British Council Prof. Mike Hardy said on Monday after the re-opening of the library.

However, Prof. Hardy was concerned that the crowded street outside the library could make potential visitors reluctant to come into the building.

Hardy, who was posted to Jakarta three months ago, said that some patrons had raised doubts over the British Council's decision to transfer its collection to the ministry, worrying that it could downgrade the library's service.

To prevent that from happening, the council has trained new librarians to ensure that they provide services as required by library visitors.

"It's a two-year training course," Hardy said.

The British Council, whose library in Jakarta has been operating for more than 50 years, started handing over its collection to the ministry in July.

Currently, it has 17,000 books, 5,000 audio visual titles and 70 individual magazine titles.

Dozens of visitors, mostly young people, have already enjoyed the new library.

The British Council will also develop an e-library to reach out to more people by developing the www.britzone.or.id website. The website, which is already running and enlisting members, provides access to tens of thousands of papers on various topics, like the social sciences, politics and economics.