The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Children's Book-Lover Organization (KPBA), along with the Murti Bunanta Foundation, donated Thursday three motorcycle mobile libraries.
""We want to provide increased community access -- especially for children in natural disaster-stricken areas -- to literature,"" KPBA co-founder Murti Bunanta said during the handover ceremony at the organization's office in ITC Permata Hijau business complex, South Jakarta.
The recipients are the Yogyakarta-based Mitra Tema Foundation, Catholic-based Karina Foundation in Klaten, Central Java, and Pondok Nurani Foundation, which manages the library and community learning center of an elementary school in Pondok Kacang, Tangerang.
Each mobile library will house a collection of 540 books on various subjects -- from cookbooks to literature for children, teenagers and adults.
The three recipients will each receive Rp 1.5 million to obtain vehicle registration documents and to transport the libraries to the designated locations.
The KPBA also provided in February five mobile libraries for organizations working with children in tsunami-hit Aceh and community libraries in West Java and East Nusa Tenggara.
Mitra Tema and Pondok Nurani were recommended by the Nurani Dunia Foundation, which will also provide technical assistance in the operational management of the libraries.
""We want this project to be sustainable, therefore we have carefully chosen recipients that can guarantee the libraries will benefit their communities,"" Murti said, adding that the recipients were expected to make use of the mobile libraries to expand their networks and serve more people in their communities.
Mitra Tema founder Sumanto said many children in his village and surrounding areas in Yogyakarta were longing for new reading material.
""I'm grateful for this donation. Now I can visit more villages and reach more children,"" he told The Jakarta Post.
Sumanto is known for his community work, bringing new books to children in need of them.
He previously took his bicycle library to villages near Bantul regency, Yogyakarta, where he lives.
He was forced to stop when he lost all of his belonging, including hundreds of books, in the earthquake that hit parts of the province and Central Java in May.
The KPBA's mobile library project is also supported by the International Board on Books for Young People, a nonprofit organization representing an international network of people who are committed to bringing books and children together.
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