Campaigning for Librarians

KOMPAS/FAJAR RAMADHAN

Arda Putri Winata

Librarians are often portrayed as grim-faced. But this does not apply to Arda Putri Winata, 28. She is easygoing and friendly, showing that the job of a librarian is never boring, just like her.

Librarians are responsible for managing a library and its services. Arda has found several references that claim the profession is dying out. She has been a frequent target of scorn from others, who say that being a librarian is nothing more than the clerical job of stamping books.

Refusing to be discouraged, the Timor Leste-born woman’s spirit has only grown stronger with a drive to prove that librarians had greater value. She decided to leave her desk to campaign for library science and prevent its extinction.

She no longer sits at her desk all day, waiting for people to visit the library. Librarians must grow closer to the public. "In taking the initiative to make visits, librarians can bring access to information closer to the community," Arda said in Jakarta on Monday (19/8/2019).

To start, Arda revived the literary groups at the Yogyakarta State University (UNY) library where she worked, like the American Corner and Warung France. She and these groups then ran different social activities, both at the library and beyond.

Vendors work for profit, Mbak (Miss). But your suggestion [to use bamboo straws] would make them suffer losses.

Through the American Corner, Arda participated in the "Zero Straw" campaign to reduce the use of plastic straws along the Bantul coast. The campaign provides education on multi-use bamboo straws to the local residents, particularly food vendors. The effort gained her more scorn.

“‘Vendors work for profit, Mbak (Miss). But your suggestion [to use bamboo straws] would make them suffer losses’,” Arda recalled one vendor’s complaint.

In addition to the "Zero Straw" campaign, the groups also organized library activities with Arda like "Cross Culture", which introduced foreign cultures through acculturation.

"For example, adopting Western Halloween into Eastern Halloween. Some are made batik jumputan with distinctly foreign motifs, such as the Eiffel Tower," said Arda, referring to tie-dyed batik.

Community outreach

Arda also cooperates with students in community outreach programs. One such cooperation was established in response to concerns that the quality programs of the Student Creativity Program (PKM) had not reached the public. So she encouraged the PKM to venture out and address the needs of the local community.

One project is the PKM’s Kompor Alai, a stove equipped with a smart warning system that was designed and manufactured by UMY electrical engineering students. The project targeted the women of the Family Welfare Movement (PKK).

As a university librarian, interacting directly with the greater public amid her regular duties of serving the academic community was an extraordinary experience for Arda. She said this was only achievable through reviving the library’s groups.

Arda had not planned to become a librarian. She ended up studying library science at State Islamic University (UIN) Sunan Kalijaga in Yogyakarta, without knowing much about what librarians did. The major was her third choice for the university entrance exam.

Six months later, Arda decided to pursue a Master of Library and Information Management at UGM.

After graduating in 2013, Arda immediately found a job as a librarian at the Bali Health Sciences College in Denpasar. Six months later, Arda decided to pursue a Master of Library and Information Management at UGM.

Arda was hired as a librarian at the UMY Library in 2014, where she still works today.

She has received several awards as a UMY librarian, starting with the 2017 Outstanding Librarian award for District V of the Private Universities Cooperation (Kopertis) to the most recent, first place in the Librarian category of the 2019 Best National Achievement award.

Writing career

Being around the stacks every day means that Arda reads frequently, and she eventually wrote conference proceedings and for journals. Five of her manuscripts qualified to be presented at national and international conferences.

Her first published writing was "American Corner and Social Media", which qualified for the 2016 East Java Indonesian Higher Education Library Forum (FPPTI) call for papers. That same year, her paper on "Net Generation and Smart Librarians" qualified for the CFP Librarians workshop.

Arda has also been a presenter at three international conferences because of her papers. One notable paper was "Student\'s Information Behavior Regarding the Usage of Gadgets at the Islamic Boarding School in the Province of Yogyakarta", which was presented at the 2018 International Conference on Library and Information Science (LIS 2018) in Bangkok, Thailand.

In presenting her paper at the conference, Arda revealed how libraries played a vital role in enabling students at a pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in the Special Region of Yogyakarta to attain scholastic achievements, despite the school’s limitations. The students had to comply with a school ban on mobile devices and took turns using the two computers at the pesantren.

KOMPAS/FAJAR RAMADHAN

Arda Putri Winata

"The panelists were amazed. As for me, I felt relieved in presenting my work to the international community," said Arda.

Arda Putri Winata

Born: Ainaro, Timor Leste, 12 May 1991

Education:

- Master in Library and Information Management, UGM, Yogyakarta

- Bachelor in Library Science, State Islamic University Sunan Kalijaga, Yogyakarta

- SMA Muhammadiyah 4 Yogyakarta senior high school

- MTsN Wonokromo junior high school, Bantul

- SDN 1 Candikusuma elementary school, Bali

- SDN 4 Gilimanuk elementary school, Bali

Organizations:

- Indonesian Librarians Union (2017-present)

- Muhammadiyah Aisyiah University Library Forum (2017-present)

Achievement:

- First place, 2019 Best National Librarian

- First place, 2019 Best Librarian, Yogyakarta region

- First place, 2018 Indonesian Academic Librarian Award

- First place, 2018 Best Librarian, FPPTI DIY

- First place, 2017 Outstanding Librarian, Kopertis District V