Public library: A man reads at a mobile cart library in Kebagusan area in South Jakarta. JP/Anissa S. Febrina
It might appear that Indonesians love watching soap operas more than reading books, but the snowballing movement of community libraries proves otherwise, as children and adults alike eagerly await a new book on their laps.
On one afternoon, about five kids, still in their uniforms, flocked to a small gazebo holding dozens of books and magazines.
"Awh, I've already read all of them," fourth-grader Billy moaned to the community library keeper. "How come there are no new ones? I'm bored with these."
Ali, the keeper and initiator of the Cilebut Children community library, has little to offer in way of reply.
"Although we live only an hour away from Jakarta, it is still difficult to find a new supply of children's reading materials," Ali said, adding that the two-year-old center had actually succeeded in nurturing reading habits in the community.
World Bank data show that Indonesian students rank the lowest in reading habits among their peers in Southeast Asia, with a score of only 51.7, lagging behind Thailand and the Philippines.
But, as the disappointment in Billy's face shows, it is not a problem of lack of interest - it is getting the books into their hands that remains the challenge.
Currently, the Cilebut community library depends on supplies from the local district office and an occasional contribution from Komunitas 1001Buku, Ali said. So do 126 community libraries around Greater Jakarta and 196 others throughout the archipelago.
Komunitas 1001Buku, which currently has 300 volunteers in Jakarta, distributes books to up to 30 selected community libraries nationwide every three months.
Every library gets a package of at least 150 children's books, magazines and comics, all of which are requested items.
Most of the books come from donations collected in Greater Jakarta and getting them to the community libraries is not as simple as it might seem.
"It seems that the donated books are all pooled in Jakarta. It is difficult to gather such resources in other cities, even ones like Yogyakarta," said Gunawan Julianto, manager of Rumah Pelangi, a community library in Muntilan, Central Java.
Gunawan's library also depends on book donations from the Yogyakarta branch of Komunitas 1001Buku and other similar groups under the Indonesian Reading Forum network.
"Our work is based on volunteers and we do not have the funding sources to accommodate all the requests from community libraries nationwide," said Dessy Sekar Astina from the Indonesian Reading Forum.
Despite their rising number, community libraries are often still too Jakarta-centric, always saying that what was being done in the capital should be replicated in their community, but neglecting local potential, Dessy added.
"Libraries outside Jakarta shouldn't have to rely on supplies of books from the capital. They should try to exploit the potential in their proximity, like starting their own book donation centers," she explained.
"It does not make sense to spend the money - if there is any - to send books from Jakarta if they could start collecting book donations in their area."
But local activists such as Gunawan have a different take on it.
"Yogyakarta, for example, is a smaller city filled with students. They may not be the type of readers that Jakarta sees," he explained. "People here are not those who buy books, read them and then throw them away."
While movements such as Pay-It-Forward, a US campaign to leave read books in public places for others to enjoy, might not be something that is familiar with Indonesians, there are actually other ways to keep information in books rolling rather than gathering dust on the shelf.
Meet the future of conventional books, its electronic cousin, which puts reading material into a form that can be easily distributed in this digital age.
"I've been collecting e-books for years and was at first confused about what to do with them," said 31-year-old Muhammad Natsir.
Two years ago, Natsir started creating his own website pustaka78.com, which hosts the hundreds of e-books he collected over the years - books that can be downloaded for free.
Armed with self-taught skills in building websites, Natsir went online with his collection.
He has so far received an average of 600 hits a day, a statistic that reflects Internet users' interest in e-books.
"Most visitors are from Indonesia, from outside Java," he said, adding that out of the 600 visitors, less than 100 downloaded books from his website.
"The problem is that not many e-books are written in Indonesian," he said. "And there is the copyright issue, too."
But if community library managers wanted to add to their collection, they could find a wealth of legal non-copyrighted materials on the Internet, Natsir said.
The challenges of unevenly distributed book donations might be a reflection of an even greater condition of uneven development in the country.
But, as Natsir says, in the online world, information dissemination is increasingly democratized.
In cities such as Yogyakarta, where Gunawan used to rely on conventional book donations from Komunitas 1001Buku, Internet access is already widely available.
And with the click of a button, print-outs of electronic versions of books will be ready, which can then be taken to community libraries in the surrounding villages.
As Dessy of the Indonesian Reading Forum said, "The challenge for community library managers is to be creative with local potential."
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