National Library Complains to DPR: Book Programme Threatened by Budget Cuts

The Head of the National Library (Perpusnas), E Aminudin Aziz, has voiced concerns that the programme to distribute books to every village is threatened with stagnation due to efficiency measures or budget cuts in 2026. In addition to villages, the book programme also distributes to reading parks, community health centres, and literacy parks, with each location receiving 1,000 books. “It is true that with this drastic budget reduction, literacy-related work is being disrupted,” Aminudin said during a working meeting on the Central Government Financial Report for the 2025 state budget at Commission X of the House of Representatives (DPR) on Thursday (16/7). “In 2026, we cannot carry this out because there is no money,” he added. According to Aminudin, the book distribution programme has been running for the last two years. He noted that the programme had received a positive response from the public. “One locus receives 1,000 books. This has been welcomed extraordinarily well, utilised very effectively, and has received a very, very positive response,” he said. However, in 2026, the programme is threatened with discontinuation due to efficiency measures. Aminudin stated that Perpusnas received an indicative budget ceiling for 2026 of Rp721.6 billion, but the Ministry of Finance recently informed them of a block on Rp132 billion. “This means the effective budget that can be used by the National Library is Rp589.5 billion,” he said. He explained that the amount blocked in the previous year was used for the literacy programme distributing books to villages and regional libraries. Furthermore, Aminudin said it is not only the book distribution programme that is threatened with stalling, but also other programmes such as renovations and technology and communication facilities. “This means our plan to drive literacy more massively cannot be carried out,” he said.