Mobile library brings books, and hope, to kids

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