Public lacks appreciation of libraries, officials say

Public lacks appreciation of libraries, officials say

JAKARTA (JP): Librarians are lamenting the lack of
appreciation for libraries amid all the hubbub about
globalization.

Libraries will play an increasingly important role in the
globalization era as a provider of information and "he who has
information will win", Hernandono, head of the National Library,
said.

"Only about 1 percent of the total population of 210 million
visit libraries daily," he told a news conference held to
commemorate the library's 20th anniversary on Tuesday.

Currently between 600 to 700 people visit the National Library
in Central Jakarta every day.

Another library official, Rachmat Natadjumena, said the World
Bank was willing to lend US$5 million to fund the development of
385 libraries in 11 regencies in Central Java, South Sumatra and
West Nusa Tenggara.

The fund will be used to, among other things, add to the
libraries' collections. In each regency 35 libraries will be
assisted, including 25 elementary school libraries.

Rachmat said research by the bank shows that the three
provinces are the most ready for the project, meaning that people
there will be able to continue the projects on their own once the
funding stopped.

Since 1980, the National Library has set up provincial
national libraries in 25 provinces, an official said.

"Ordinary people are steeped in drama, storytelling, music and
crafts -- not literature," Paul Permadi, the library's officer in
charge of collection development and information services, said.

A librarian in Jakarta said despite Internet services people
would still need conventional library services. "Many people
still don't understand English, which is needed in surfing the
web," Lies said.

Education expert Mochtar Buchori told The Jakarta Post that
the culture to seek knowledge orally is still more popular.

"That's why the culture of gossip blooms here," he added.

Hernandono said the Rp 11 billion allocated from the 2000
state budget for the operation of the library made it impossible
to provide adequate maintenance for its collection of 1.2 million
printed works.

Dutch expert P.M. Poldervaart, who visited the library
recently, said about 75 percent of some 10,000 old books and
manuscripts there needed immediate restoration due to their bad
condition.

Rachmat said none of the old collections had been insured.
(08)