Mobile library brings books, and hope, to kids

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After a seemingly endless journey navigating the small alleys in Jatiwaringin, Bekasi, The Wandering Books Foundation's van finally stopped in front of a modest house.

Two librarians unloaded six boxes filled with books, placing them on the carpeted floor of the two meter by three meter garage.

Soon, school kids started arriving at the garage, borrowing some books for free or reading them on the spot. Mothers whose children were still in school also stopped by to pick up the books their young ones like to read.

"These children hardly have access to books. Some of their schools don't even have libraries. Thanks to Ibu (Mrs.) Roos here who proposed this to us and provides the space for a library, we can make a stopover once a week. It's been two years now," said the foundation's director Nasti Reksodiputro.

While the Harry Potter series may fly off the shelves in the city's upmarket bookstores, there are still many children who have no access to the written word. Worse still, many children are illiterate.

"We often find children who are in the third grade of elementary school, but still can't read," said Nasti, an English lecturer in the University of Indonesia.

She was not talking about kids in rural areas in provinces like Papua, where the illiteracy rate for females and males of 10 years and over in 2000 was a staggering 40 percent, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS).

Childhood illiteracy is common in such areas as the Cilincing slum, North Jakarta, or in remote Teluk Naga in Tangerang, Banten, a relatively short distance from the capital.

"In Teluk Naga, for instance, teachers are so rare that junior high school students are being taught by senior high school students. Infrastructure is poor, they don't have libraries. No wonder that the students can't read, because there are no books to be read," Nasti said.

With such poor conditions, it's little wonder the illiteracy rate is so high. The 2002 National Socioeconomic Survey reported that the illiteracy rate for the population aged 10 years and over in this country is 9.29 percent.

The sorry condition has led a few parties, including Nasti's foundation and Yayasan Kesejahteraan Anak Indonesia (Indonesian Children Welfare Foundation) to launch mobile libraries that can reach kids with limited access to books.

Established in 1996, The Wandering Books Foundation now has a total of 8,000 books and three vans which operate Monday through Thursday throughout Greater Jakarta.

The foundation also has a program called Kotak Kelana (Book box landing) where people can rent a box of books for a month.

"There are still many neighborhoods who have asked us to stop over. But our budget is limited. Vans need a lot of money, not to mention for the drivers and librarian," Nasti said.

"We really depend on sponsorship, like Citibank who sponsored schools in a couple of slum areas. The sponsorship ended this year, though, but we can't stop this program in those areas, we feel sorry for the kids."

The love of books was clear from the children who dropped by the "library" that day. There are usually some 40 to 50 children who come to visit the mobile library at Jatiwaringin.

At the same time that afternoon, another van also made a regular visit to the Kebon Kosong area in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta. The local community provided several benches and a large umbrella under a tree in an alley just beside an elementary school building.

Children quickly packed the space, some barefoot, but all of them eager to read. They also filled in a survey form from the foundation -- basic information about the kids and the kind of books they like -- and cheered as they received bars of soap as a gift.

"Unlike the popular belief that Indonesian people don't like to read, there is indeed a reading interest among them. It's the reading habit and opportunity that is lacking. Quality books are also rare and expensive," Nasti said.

If you assume that it's only comic books that the children are after, think again. Six-year-old Gibran, for instance, dug a reference book on popular science, reading with his mouth slightly agape in the Jatiwaringin garage.

"Many children are really into science books. Once, though, I spotted a few kids giggling over a page about reproductive organs. I guess I have to prepare for that, to explain that those organs are part of their bodies, and nothing is perverted about that," said garage owner Roos, who is a housewife.

That is where the role of librarians is not just to distribute books, but also to accompany children to read and discuss the topics.

"The adults have to be creative to create mood and motivation, so that children's reading interest remain high. That's why volunteers are really needed for mobile libraries, although so far their role is still limited to storytelling," said Andri Yoga Utami of YKAI, whose books have reached 10,000 people since YKAI was established in 1994.

The mobile library, meanwhile, is not just a place where children get to read: It's also a means to hang out with their peers no matter what their financial backgrounds.

"In some areas like Jatiwaringin, not all of the children are poor. I don't believe we have to separate poor kids with more financially secure ones. If we mix them together, they will learn tolerance and poor kids will be more confident," Nasti said.

Mobile Libraries:

Yayasan Pustaka Kelana (The Wondering Books Foundation) Jl. Kelapa Puan Timur III NB 4/18, Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta Tel. (021) 4530572/4501848 E-mail: pustaka_kelana@telkom.net

Yayasan Kesejahteraan Anak Indonesia (YKAI) Jl. Teuku Umar No. 10, Central Jakarta Tel. (021) 3107030/3905747