Publishers dream of better book industry

By Stevie Emilia

JAKARTA (JP): Shopping malls are almost always packed with shoppers checking out a staggering load of commodities. Wealthy people pack upscale restaurants eating to their heart's content. Apparently, the economic crisis is not "crippling" this section of the society.

But take some time and look at book stores. Do not be amazed if you find few people in them. And if you go to the library, do not be dismayed if you find only a handful of readers.

Jakarta's famous nine-story national library, the city's main library located in Jl. Salemba, Central Jakarta, is no exception in terms of small attendance. There, the bulk of its over 1.2 million books and periodicals are left to gather dust, rarely touched.

The library cannot do much to encourage people to come and read.

A library employee, who declined to give her name, said, "Most of our visitors are students looking for books for their school assignments."

The library serves about 500 people a day, of which 300 are members.

More people might prefer going to modern, air-conditioned book stores like Gramedia in Mal Taman Anggrek shopping center, West Jakarta. But wait a minute. The people brushing shoulders are not necessarily buyers.

Indra Mahendra told The Jakarta Post while flipping through Otomotif weekly tabloid on Tuesday night, "I'm waiting for my wife shopping."

He said he had no intention of buying anything at the bookstore. "I just want to kill time."

Apart from the magazine and tabloid stand, the bookstore's most crowded section is the comic books' stand, where children have a dizzying array of choices with the translated versions of foreign comics like Kungfu Boy or Disney's series Mickey Mouse.

According to one of the bookstore's attendants, the trend is not new. "After looking through latest edition of magazines or tabloids, they usually leave without buying," she said.

People's lack of interest in reading is attributed to a lack of quality books and a lack of encouragement at school and at home.

Children's book observer Murti Bunanta told the Post, "I see that all time, most publishers prioritize commercial aspects rather than quality in books. I have nothing against it, I know they have to survive. But we need quality books."

Citing an example, she said many publishers preferred publishing best-selling children books as series.

"This is a trick to make children want every single book of the series," said Murti, a member of the Society for Advancement of Children in Literature.

Good-quality children's books are those which not only have educational value but also promote peace, humanity and understanding of others.

"I cannot say our books are of good quality; they're not too bad. Still, we want better books."

Poor interest

The Indonesian Book Publishers Association's chairman, Arselan Harahap, said that everybody, including families, teachers, the government and non-governmental organizations, are responsible for improving the people's interest in reading.

"But I think the government has the biggest responsibility for improving people's interest in reading by, first of all, improving our education system," Arselan said, adding that the present system does not encourage students to read.

However, he added, there were other factors responsible for people's low reading habits, such as the presence of various electronic media.

"People are reluctant to visit libraries. They would rather stay at home watching television," Arselan said.

Visiting libraries, he said, was of an even lesser priority. Quoting cultural observer Ignas Kleden, he said that in Europe, development of a city includes four important pillars: a city hall, a market, a place of worship and a library.

"But here, investors are reluctant to invest their money in building good libraries," Arselan said. "As we all see, luxurious housing complexes have shopping malls, but no libraries."

No clear policy

The government is yet to have a clear policy on the book industry, including policies on pricing and trade.

Currently, the association's officials have to go to various government offices to get their demands heard, such as for special transportation arrangements for books, tax exemption for all books and special procurement of paper for books.

So far, the government has tax exemptions for school books and religious books only. "In my opinion, all books should be freed from taxes," said Arselan, who is also a publishing director of PT Pustaka LP3ES (Institute for Research, Education, Economic and Social Information) Indonesia.

The absence of special transportation arrangements for books makes books in Jakarta, where major publishers are located, cheaper than those in Aceh or Irian Jaya, he said.

"Many book policies should be redefined, and clear policies would cut all the bureaucratic procedures," Arselan said. "All this time, we only hear political statements regarding the book industry."

The association was set up on May 17, 1950, with only 13 publishers as initial members. It plans to celebrate its 50th anniversary later this month by inviting President Abdurrahman Wahid to a gathering.

Now the association, which is also a member of the International Publishers Association and has helped set up the Association of Southeast Asia Publishers, has 598 members.

"Before the crisis, we had 660 members," Arselan said, adding that most of the remaining publishers were now simply trying to sell their unsold stocks of books, and only between 10 percent and 15 percent manage to release new books.

The crisis has also reduced the number of published books.

Prior to the crisis, the association's members released 5,000 to 7,000 new titles each year. But now, there are only 1,500 to 2,000 published per year.