Lestari Moerdijat Urges Massive Promotion of SIBI to Boost Public Literacy

The availability of access to reading materials must be followed by massive efforts to ensure this access can be utilised as widely as possible, as part of efforts to improve public literacy. ‘The maximum utilisation of existing literacy resources must be realised immediately and be able to help encourage the public’s interest in reading,’ said Deputy Speaker of the MPR RI, Lestari Moerdijat, in a written statement on Saturday (4/7). The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen) on Wednesday (1/7) inaugurated the integration of the Indonesian Book Information System (SIBI) with the Senayan Library Management System (SLiMS). Secretary General of Kemendikdasmen, Suharti, said this integration allows the public to access quality books without being constrained by distance or access to a library. Kemendikdasmen data recorded that as of 30 June 2026, more than 8.8 million people had visited the SIBI page, with total digital books read more than 13.7 million times and downloaded over 2.6 million times. Currently, 1,842 book titles are available, ranging from picture storybooks for children to textbooks for primary, junior high, and senior high schools. According to Lestari, massive and equitable socialisation must be carried out immediately so that the available reading material facilities can be accessed as widely as possible by the public. Especially, explained Rerie, as Lestari is affectionately known, for communities in regions that have difficulty accessing reading materials in underdeveloped, frontier, and outermost areas. Education on how to access the https://buku.kemendikdasmen.go.id/ platform to obtain reading materials, she added, must also be widely disseminated. In addition, explained Rerie, who is also a member of Commission X of the DPR RI, the development of the digital library’s function as a literacy and innovation centre that attracts the interest of all groups must be consistently pursued. No less important, Rerie stressed, is ensuring the availability of supporting infrastructure, such as adequate internet access throughout all regions of Indonesia. The NasDem Party High Council member expressed hope that the government’s efforts would become a breakthrough in equalising access to education and improving literacy in Indonesia. ‘Support from various parties, including collaboration between the government, the private sector, and the community, is very crucial to realising a generation of intelligent and competitive successors for the nation in the future,’ concluded Rerie.