TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsTurning the page
It is high time we throw out the misleading narrative that Indonesians lack reading interest; rather, the issue is more about whether the country has the systems and facilities in place to nurture reading.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
A student browses a book borrowed from a mobile library at SDN Glagahan I elementary school in Jombang, East Java, on April 23, 2024, during a literacy initiative by the regency administration to celebrate World Book and Copyright Day. (Antara/Syaiful Arif)
F
or years we have been led to accept as fact that the country suffers from an extremely low appetite for reading, primarily through oft cited “UNESCO statistics” claiming that just 0.001 percent of Indonesians are active readers.
The problem is, this figure does not appear in any UNESCO publication, nor can it be traced to any verifiable source. Yet the myth that Indonesians simply do not like to read persists, repeated by teachers, public officials and even the media.
So what is the real condition of our reading habit? The latest research from the National Library offers an encouraging picture: reading interest increased from 66.77 points in 2023 to 72.44 in 2024, which was attributed to the library’s "interventions through various programs”.
While we might view this data with skepticism, one trend is undeniable: More young urbanites are flocking to libraries and bookstores. A prime example is the Blok M flagship store of the country’s largest chain Gramedia in South Jakarta.
Popularly known as "Gramedia Jalma", with jalma the Javanese word for human being, the store does more than sell imported titles and classic Indonesian literature. It also features a café, discussion rooms, coworking spaces and play areas, creating a multifunctional environment that encourages community engagement.
Meaningful, small-scale initiatives are also cropping up across Greater Jakarta. Public parks are coming alive with book discussions held by grassroots communities, while independent libraries in satellite cities like West Java’s Bogor offer weekend escapes for families and youths tired of Jakarta’s daily monotony.
Beyond physical libraries, a quiet revolution is happening in the palms of young Indonesians who are finding and devouring literature on-screen. Their appetite is huge: platforms like Wattpad and Webtoon have exploded in popularity, while over 1.7 million people are using the National Library’s iPusnas app to access thousands of titles for free.
