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our social organizations, namely Indonesia Mengajar, Komunitas Kandang Jurang Doank, Forum Penulis Bacaan Anak and Rumah Moral, have received 2012 Jakarta Book Awards for their roles in children’s education.

The awards were made during the opening ceremony of the 2012 Jakarta Book Fair at Istora Indoor Stadium at Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Saturday.

Indonesia Mengajar is a humanitarian movement established by education expert Anies Baswedan. While its main purpose is to deploy young teachers to remote areas, Indonesia Mengajar also runs Indonesia Menyala (enlightening Indonesia), a book donation program.

Under the program, the organization recently sent 30,000 books to 134 elementary schools in 14 provinces across the country. Last year, Indonesia Menyala successfully distributed 20,000 children books nationwide.

Indonesia Menyala has called on the public to donate children’s books to its headquarters in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, or in various drop-box locations.

The Association of Indonesian Publishers (Ikapi), which organizes the Book Fair, said that other organizations, including Ikapi, should follow the same ideas on book donations. “The book drop-box is a good idea and should be followed by more organizations. It encourages people to share their old books and let other children enjoy them,” Ikapi Jakarta chairman Afrizal Sinaro said.

While Indonesia Mengajar has been closely related to book donations, the other three awardees deserved appreciation for developing creativity among children.

Kandang Jurang Doank, a community nature “school” founded and managed by singer and TV presenter Dik Doank, has been known for promoting outdoor activities and creative education to children rather than class activities.

Forum Penulis Bacaan Anak has focused on the creation of children’s books, while Rumah Moral believes that parents should introduce good attitudes and morality at home.

Hikmat Kurnia, the head of the Book Fair’s organizing committee, said that such organizations had helped Indonesian children to be psychologically smarter.

The Jakarta Book Awards were one of 85 events during the Book Fair, which will last until July 1. Among other programs are an English speaking competition, Math Olympics, musical performances, an entrepreneurship talk show and the first screening of Ambilkan Bulan (Bring the moon) a children movie.