Leading publishers join reading drive

JAKARTA (JP): Some 90 leading local and international book publishers will take part in a book exhibition later this month to help promote the government's campaign to encourage people to acquire a reading habit.

The 10-day exhibition, slated to begin on Sept. 22 at the Century Park Hotel in Jakarta, will also see a seminar to discuss the problem of the appallingly low interest in reading among Indonesians.

The Indonesian Publishers Association is sponsoring the exhibition, with the theme Gemar Membaca Keluarga Sejahtera (Reading leads to Family Prosperity), which will be opened by Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro.

President Soeharto, on the occasion to mark the 30th International Literacy Day on Thursday, named September both the "Reading Month" and the "Library Visiting Month".

The seminar on Building up Cooperation Between Family and School to Increase Children's Reading Habits will be held on the last day of the exhibition.

It will feature experts on education including Mrs. Atie Wardiman Djojonegoro (the wife of the education minister), Riris K. Toha Sarumpaet and J. Drost SJ. They will talk about the importance of children's educational success through reading and hindrances in building up a reading interest.

Arianto T, the chief of the exhibition's organizing committee, during a press conference to announce the event yesterday, acknowledged that the number of publishers taking part in the association's annual book fair has been declining.

The poor reading habits among Indonesians might be partly attributed to high book prices, which in turn is caused by the high cost of paper, Arianto said.

He said, however, that the government could stimulate people's reading interests by helping to develop public libraries.

Many of the association's members have in the past contributed books to libraries but they could not be expected to do this on a permanent basis because of the high costs involved, he said.

The government should show its political will to develop public libraries to ensure that its "Book Reading Month" and "Library Visiting Month" campaigns are successful, Arianto said.

"People will not visit libraries that have an incomplete collection or are filled with old books," he said. (03)