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Patjar Merah’s quest for equal access to literature
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Knowledge hunters: Visitors to the Patjar Merah mobile book market wander around the pile of books sold at affordable prices, some event discounted by 80 percent. (JP/Medina Rahma Putri)
A
group of enthusiastic book readers and writers have created a collective movement known as Patjar Merah to provide access to literature for everyone from different social classes and backgrounds.
One of Patjar Merah's founders, writer and blogger Windy Ariestanty, knows first hand the joy that books can bring to a child. She recently shared a story of an encounter between her and a father, whose child was in desperate need of school books, during Patjar Merah’s first ever book festival in Yogyakarta.
Windy said the father had always been very reluctant to go into bookstores because he felt he could not afford to buy any books. She then asked the father to check out Patjar Merah’s mobile book store, which was available during the festival, because she thought he might find the books were more affordable than the ones in large bookstore chains.
The father was overjoyed when he saw how affordable the books in the mobile bookstore were and they even came with additional discounts. Eventually, he got a lot of books for his son because the more he purchased, the bigger the discounts were.
This is just one example of what Patjar Merah has been trying to do since its inception around nine months ago. The movement’s main aim is to help those who are economically struggling by providing access to literature and books.
“When books are cheap it makes sense to purchase more, but what about when they are too expensive for people who are struggling to fulfill their basic needs?” Windy shared her thoughts with The Jakarta Post recently.
