Deputy Social Minister Urges People's School Library Managers to Be More Creative
Deputy Social Minister (Wamensos) Agus Jabo Priyono has urged library managers at People’s Schools not only to manage books but also to change mindsets and creatively encourage students to develop a love of reading.
This message was delivered to around 127 participants at the closing of the Advanced Library Management Training for People’s School Library Managers Batch 3 for 2026 at Novotel BSD City, Tangerang Regency, Banten, today.
“Not only providing library information services, but how you can mobilise and change the mindset of children who previously did not enjoy reading, to make them enjoy reading and make the library the main activity for students at People’s Schools,” said Agus Jabo in a written statement on Saturday (18/4/2026).
Agus Jabo reminded that the purpose of President Prabowo Subianto’s initiative to establish People’s Schools is to prepare pupils who are intelligent, of strong character, skilled, and capable of breaking the transmission of poverty in the future. According to him, one fundamental way to achieve this target is by improving literacy through the habit of reading books.
“This is what we must work on so that children’s mobility to the library is high because there is awareness transferred from library managers, teachers, and school principals that literacy is a very fundamental thing, a very important thing to change, to break the transmission of poverty is reading,” he explained.
According to him, reading is a lantern that can turn darkness into bright light. In addition to creatively encouraging reading interest, Agus Jabo also urged library managers to instil and build a sense of national identity among students.
He hopes that the books available in the libraries will contain a lot of literature about the history of the national heroes’ struggles. According to him, in this way, People’s School children will not only be intelligent, but their nationalistic character will also be strong, loving the homeland and the nation.
“We hope that from these People’s Schools, in 10 or 20 years, they will become great national leaders who not only change their families from poverty to prosperity, but also become pioneers of Indonesian national leaders to make the nation rise, become a great nation, a just and prosperous nation,” he stated.
He said all this can only be achieved through the libraries in People’s Schools, by increasing their reading interest. The libraries in People’s Schools must become the central hub of student activities.
“So, ideal facilities and infrastructure are needed, good quality books in line with the targets of the People’s Schools, and of course, so that children are comfortable and enjoy reading books in those libraries,” he said.
Agus Jabo asked library managers to have a character that loves reading and to continuously hone their professional library management skills.
“I understand professionalism as thinking about one’s duties with pleasure and sincerity. So, for fathers and mothers as library managers, love it and that must be the main thought, the main activity. That is what is called professionalism,” he concluded.