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MRT’s ‘Pojok Buku’ provides books to kill commuting time

Jakartans commuting between Lebak Bulus MRT station in South Jakarta and Bundaran HI station in Central Jakarta can now browse articles or documents of their interest while riding the jam-free transportation system

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Sat, September 21, 2019

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MRT’s ‘Pojok Buku’ provides books to kill commuting time

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span>Jakartans commuting between Lebak Bulus MRT station in South Jakarta and Bundaran HI station in Central Jakarta can now browse articles or documents of their interest while riding the jam-free transportation system. The complimentary collection of literature in a variety of genres is available for passengers to pass the traveling time.

MRT corporate secretary Muhammad Kamaluddin said the collections of literature, which are available at two mini libraries, each at the Lebak Bulus and Bundaran HI stations, were meant to foster a habit of reading among Jakartans. The small libraries, named Pojok Buku (Book Corners), were launched on Sept. 4.

“The Pojok Buku initiative is a joint effort between the Jakarta Administration and PT MRT Jakarta as an effort to promote reading in the capital city. A small library has been set up at both Lebak Bulus and Bundaran HI stations as a pilot project. Next month, we will establish two others at Dukuh Atas and Blok M stations. Our end goal is for all MRT stations to have their own mini libraries,” Kamaluddin told The Jakarta Post by phone on Tuesday.

The two mini libraries currently have a total of 100 books in their collections. The number is expected to grow as MRT Jakarta has been campaigning for a book donations program to increase the collections.

“The literature currently in both libraries was provided by the Jakarta Library and Archive Agency, MRT Jakarta and the Education and Culture Ministry. We expect more manuscripts to come following the launch of Pojok Buku two weeks ago. So far, we have received more than 200 books,” Kamal said, adding that all the donated books would first be reviewed before being added to the libraries.

The two pilot libraries are being managed by volunteers at the moment. However, starting from October, MRT Jakarta will hire employees to manage them.

Rizky, one of the volunteers managing the library at Lebak Bulus Station, expected that he could get more book enthusiasts visiting and borrowing books from the library.

“Since we currently only have two libraries in Bundaran HI and Lebak Bulus stations, only passengers taking trains to and from those stations can borrow the books. When a passenger borrows a book, I take a picture of him or her and also the book and send them to other volunteers at Bundaran HI Station so we can check whether or not they return the book,” Rizky said.

“Since it is the first day the library has been open, only three people have borrowed books. Maybe because other passengers do not know about the library yet,” he said.

Despite their infancy, the mini libraries have managed to draw some passengers. Jufri Abdul, an office worker from Ciputat, South Tangerang, Banten, said he planned to borrow a book from the library next time he commuted to his office.

“I just arrived at Lebak Bulus Station and I did not know a mini library had opened here. I love reading. Next time I’ll definitely borrow a book to read on the train. I also plan to donate books to the library,” he told the Post on Monday.

Jufri expressed hope that the library would promote reading among Jakartans. “It’s a very good program to foster a habit of reading in Jakarta. It’s very uncommon to see people reading on a train, but I think this program could be a good start to trigger people’s interest in reading while commuting to work. I hope other MRT stations as well as the commuter line stations will also have their own libraries.”

Karina Larasati from Lebak Bulus said the library could offer her an alternative way to spend time while commuting on the MRT.

“I usually spend the 20-minute journey to my office in SCBD, South Jakarta, by listening to music, but now I could read books to spend my time in a more productive way,” she said.

Similarly, 20-year-old Isti Karisma finds the Pojok Baca program very beneficial for her as a college student.

“As a college student I need to read a lot to increase my vocabulary. So I think reading is a much better way to spend my time on the train rather than just scrolling through social media platforms on my phone. I hope more books will be added to the library, and each station could have its own library,” she said.

However, she expressed concern about potential losses of the books borrowed as passengers might not return them as the libraries have no special measure to ensure that they return the books at the destination MRT station.

To solve this problem, Kamal said that in the near future his company would place a special sticker inside each book that would beep whenever the book was carried outside the MRT station. (nal)

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