World Bank provides US$5m book loan for three provinces
World Bank provides US$5m book loan for three provinces
JAKARTA (JP): The World Bank has agreed to provide a US$5
million "Learning Innovation Loan" for the National Library to
buy new books for three provinces.
The library's head Hernandono disclosed on Wednesday that the
loan will be distributed evenly to provincial libraries in
Central Java, West Nusa Tenggara and South Sumatra.
"Those three provinces were chosen because there are more
human resources there compared to other provinces," he said in a
hearing with House of Representatives' Commission VI for
Education and Health Affairs.
The loan, Hernandono said, will be paid over 40 years with
0.75 percent interest without management fee.
"All the money will be used to buy books. Each provincial
administration is accountable for renovation or construction of
its library building," he said.
During the hearing, Hernandono also proposed a 55 percent
budget increase to Rp 60 billion for the next fiscal year from Rp
39 billion this year on grounds that the 2001 fiscal year will
cover 12 months, three months longer than the current financial
year. Besides, the national library lacks funds to carrying out
its programs, he said.
"Our collection of books for instance, is still far below
standard. Normally, the ratio between readers and books is 10
percent which means there are 10 books for one reader. But here,
there's only one book for between 40 and 100 readers," he added.
To overcome the budget shortcoming, the library has cooperated
with other institutions like Ministry of National Education, City
Administration, Universities and the Rotary Club. It has also
entered relations with the Amsterdam-based Rijksmuseum and the
Conference Directors National Library of Asia and Oceania
(CDNLAO).
For the 2001 budget, the National Library has several
priorities, including preserving and increasing the book
collection, cataloging and transforming the bibliographies to
digital format, automating library service and improving staff
capabilities.
During the hearing, legislators urged library management to
pay more attention to remote provinces and regions.
"When we visited Palu in Central Sulawesi, we were surprised
that the residents are so fond of reading they visit the library
regularly, regardless of the building's poor condition," said
legislator Sambas Soerjadi of Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).
Hernandono denied allegations that his policy is
discriminative. To prove his remark, he said his office has plans
to build libraries in West Kalimantan, East Kalimantan and
Southeast Sulawesi. (09)