Nasti fosters the love of reading

Dewi Santoso, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Poet Ezra Pound once said that a book should be a ball of light in one's hand, and that man reading should be man intensively alive. That may be just a timeworn quote for many people, but not for Nasti M. Reksodiputro.

Her need to read is th same as her need to breathe.

"Reading nourishes your brain to be more creative," said Nasti, one of the four founders of the Wandering Books Foundation (Yayasan Pustaka Kelana).

Her foundation, established in 1995, focuses on providing books to children through program such as Pustaka Kelana (mobile library) and Pustaka Mangkal (library).

"I've always believed that reading should be introduced in early childhood, as only then children's interests will bloom. And so I thought how wonderful it would be to have a library that provided books for children."

Born in the Central Java town of Magelang on Aug. 19, 1936, her passion for reading began when she was still in kindergarten, which was also when her family moved to Jakarta.

"My father was a teacher who appreciated and collected books. That explains why I learned to read, both Indonesian and Dutch, at an early age."

Having finished high school in 1955, Nasti decided to attend the education and teaching institute in Malang, East Java, majoring in English teaching.

"I was only interested in learning the language, not its literature. And Malang was offered that major at that time."

Nasti began working with the United States Aid for International Development as soon as she graduated from the institute. She was based in Yogyakarta, teaching students preparing to leave for the United States to study.

She stayed for only three months in Yogyakarta, rushing back to Jakarta following the deaths of her parents.

But she continued her work with USAID in Jakarta, teaching until 1962, when she was offered a scholarship from the East-West Center to pursue her master's degree in teaching English as a second language at the University of Hawaii.

Nasti returned to Indonesia in 1964 and immediately received an offer from the University of Indonesia to teach English.

"I accepted the job because I needed the extra income to help support my sister, who is 13 years younger than me."

When she retired from lecturing at the University of Indonesia in 1992, she began working with some friends to realize her dream of working with children to help them develop an interest in reading.

"We all agreed that something must be done to increase children's interest in reading. But instead of waiting for them to go to the library, we took the initiative to bring the library to them."

Thus, in 1996 the Pustaka Kelana mobile library program was launched. The group received a donated Suzuki van, which the loaded with books and parked at the Jakarta State University. As the program progressed, the foundation received two more cars, from Rotary International and Citibank.

In 2000, the foundation opened its first Pustaka Mangkal (literally meaning stationed library) in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, which was followed two years later by a library in Rawamangun, East Jakarta.

Books by Enid Blyton and sorcery stuff like J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter are the children's favorite. Nasti observes that children's books by local authors are far from interesting.

Thus, in 2002, in cooperation with The Coca Cola Foundation Indonesia, The British Council, publishing companies Grasindo and Dian Rakyat, the foundation printed three books: SIM-B and Petualangan Tak Terduga (Unexpected Adventure) -- both in Bahasa Indonesia -- and Where The Coffee Flowers Bloom and Other Stories in English.

A year later the foundation published another three books: Lingui dan Kawanan Berisik Kulinera (Lingui and Kulinera's Noisy Gang) , Pahlawan Keluarga (The Family's Hero) and Pelangi Sesudah Hujan (Rainbow After the Rain).

Although well-written, the books were not meant for sale. They were published in limited numbers of 2,500 or 3,000 and distributed to libraries.

Nasti wants all children, regardless of their economic backgrounds, to be able to enjoy well-written books.

She recalls that will lecturing at the university, many of her students were not accustomed to reading. Nasti is of the opinion that most parents simply fail to introduce their children to the world of reading.