Chevy Andika Putra, 23, had not been into reading until he found himself working on his thesis for a bachelor’s degree in marketing back in 2014.

He joined a marketing community, hoping to get insight for his thesis. Not only did he acquire many ideas, he also found a new love: reading.

Often reading free online books, he has profound love for imported printed books.

“But they are very expensive,” he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

That issue was settled when in July he found out about an online platform for renting books, called Bookabuku. He immediately signed up by paying the Rp 100,000 (US$7.5) deposit and agreeing to the monthly subscription fee of Rp 55,000. Since then, he is able to read his targeted imported books without having to pay for them, he simply borrows the books from the platform and has them delivered to him.

Bookabuku is a startup for lending and borrowing books that was initiated by some students of a private business school in Serpong, South Tangerang, who at first worked on a project to get grades for their graduation requirements. It also aims to boost Indonesians’ interest in reading. In a 2016 study from Central Connecticut State University in the US, Indonesia ranked 60th as the second-least literate country of 61 countries assessed. The results of the study also somewhat support a 2012 survey by UNESCO, according to which only one in 1,000 Indonesians has an interest in reading.

On bookabuku.com, registered users automatically become lenders and borrowers. Lenders should list all their books with the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) and upload pictures of the covers.

Meanwhile, borrowers pay a monthly subscription fee of Rp 45,000 for local books only or Rp 55,000 for both local and imported ones. They can also pay an additional Rp 10,000 for unlimited book swapping, in addition to the Rp 100,000 refundable deposit.

Another member, Della Suhartoni, has registered 15 of her books since May, and five of them have been borrowed. She planned to register 20 more books soon. As a lender, Della earns a passive income of Rp 5,000 for a local book and Rp 10,000 for an imported book per month.

“I hope the books I have read could be useful to many people, and the plus point is that I get a passive income,” she said.

Launched in May, the platform now has more than 1,400 registered books and more than 300 users. To facilitate lending and borrowing, a courier is available to pick up and drop off the books. That service is currently for the Greater Jakarta area only.

To ease the process of returning books, borrowers can drop them off at 18 designated cafes and co-working spaces partnering with Bookabuku across Greater Jakarta. The startup also cooperates with an automated parcel locker, PopBox, which has more than 160 dropping points at train stations, apartments, malls, campuses and gas stations.

Co-founder Rani Soebijantoro, 21, said the idea stemmed for her love of books. She said she used to be bullied at school, and books had always been her escape. Being able to collect many kinds of books thanks to her parents’ supports, she and several of her friends decided to make a business model of book lending for their school project.

Bookabuku CEO Givari Rizky said the startup was also partnering with several communities, namely Polyglot Indonesia, Rumah Millennial (Millennial House) and Sinergi Muda (Young Synergy) in a bid to increase reading interest among young residents of Greater Jakarta. “We hope to launch the application by next week to facilitate the users,” Givari said. (dra)

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