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fter sharing classrooms with another school for almost a year, students of SDN 03 and SDN 05 Bandar Buat state-run elementary schools in Padang, West Sumatra, finally had new classrooms of their own.

Both of the schools had been destroyed in the earthquake that devastated Padang in September last year, receiving new much-improved and earthquake-resistant school buildings on Monday.

“We are glad to have the building. It has a library where we can read. The old school didn’t have one. The books were stored in a small warehouse. We couldn’t borrow them,” SDN 05 sixth grader Oktaviani Widyati said.

Her classmate, Tiara Dwi Amanda Karohan, shared similar comments.

“I will borrow these books to take home,” said Tiara while holding two storybooks, Peri Pelangi (Rainbow Fairy) and Peri Hujan (Rain Fairy).

PT Amerta Indah Otsuka, a Japanese beverage producer, in cooperation with the Kick Andy Foundation, donated Rp 1.1 billion (US$123,500) to rebuild the two schools, including the libraries, furniture and nearly 800 books.

While the new libraries are relatively small, students were proud that their schools now had them, since most elementary schools in West Sumatra do not.

“We will try our best to add more books to the collection by using the school operational aid fund,” said Siti Zaharni, a teacher at SDN 05 Bandar Buat.

Siti said the library would be managed by a volunteer teacher. Students would be allowed to borrow books to take home every Saturday, she said.

PT Amerta Indah Otsuka president director Yoshihiro Bando said his company had helped build 10 libraries in elementary schools across Indonesia.

In West Sumatra alone, aside from SDN 03 and SDN 05 Bandar Buat, libraries were built at SDN 40 Barung Balantai elementary school in Pesisir Selatan regency, and SDN 02 Batukambing and SDN 01 Batang Gasan elementary schools in Agam regency, he said.

The company donated more than 25,000 books to 95 school libraries across Indonesia in 2010, he said.

Since 2007, Amerta had donated a total of more than 75,000 books to 181 libraries and foundations, he said. This excluded the Rp 2.3 billion donated to build schools and libraries.