Library Fosters Hope for Children in Remote Regions

KOMPAS/EMANUEL EDI SAPUTRA

Aktivis komunitas Love Borneo mendirikan rumah baca untuk memperluas wawasan anak-anak di Desa Ngarak, Kabupaten Landak, Kalimantan Barat, Minggu (6/1/2019).

Activists from the Love Borneo Community in West Kalimantan provide children living in remote areas with reading tuition on Sunday (05/01/2019).

For the past five years, theWest Kalimantan Love Borneo community has gone from village to village to establish local libraries. The community aims to foster hope and broaden local children’s horizons in the remote regions of West Kalimantan.

Some 20 elementary school students in Pangkalan Durian hamlet, Ngarak village, Mandor district, Landak regency, West Kalimantan, gathered at one of the hamlet’s churches one Sunday morning. They had brought books and pencils.

Elfrida Marpaung, 27, and Doni Liau, 21, of the Love Borneo community, sat in front of the children. Elfrida was holding a wall clock. That day, she was teaching the children how to read time.

Several times, Elfrida asked the children questions to test their knowledge. The children answered enthusiastically. The lesson were held not only Indonesian, but in English as well.

“Children here love learning English. Elementary schools in West Kalimantan’s remote regions rarely have English classes. They also love to read. Sadly, they have little access to books because elementary schools have no libraries,” Elfrida said.

After the lesson on reading time ended, Doni took some books from a cardboard box. There were many children’s books and the children immediately scrambled for them.

Two other Love Borneo members, Delin, 26, and Primus Dendi Prayoga, 17, helped the children who had reading difficulties.

“I am happy whenever the big brothers and sisters [from Love Borneo] come. I can learn and read books with them,” said Dina, 10, who participated in the activity that Sunday morning.

“I want to be a teacher like the big brothers and sisters,” said the fifth-grader who was reading a fairytale book.

“There are so many books to choose from. It hasn’t always been like this,” said Paulina, 11, who was enthusiastically browsing through the books.

The reading session is held almost every weekend. While other people use their Saturdays and Sundays to rest and relax, Love Borneo community members, most of whom live in Pontianak, travel dozens of kilometers to visit children in remote regions. The positive response from local children boosts their spirits.

The literacy movement in Pangkalan Durian hamlet, which is located around 80 km from Pontianak, began three years ago when it established a rumahbaca (library) with around 300 books.

“The library is mobile and a place where children can read comfortably. It can be set up at a school, house or church,” Elfrida said.

Concern

Love Borneo’s literacy movement was borne out of its members’ concern over the lack of interest in reading among children in remote regions. This is because of poor access to books and reading material.

Love Borneo mentor Raynaldo Ginting said the youth in the community were originally involved in Sunday schools in the hamlet. Here, they found that local children lacked reading material. Due to their concern, an idea was formed in 2013 to create local libraries and boost the children’s interest in reading.

Love Borneo members then went from village to village to find locals willing to serve as partners to maintain the books and organize reading hours, usually three or four times a week, for children. After finding local partners, the community established the libraries and as time went by, they also gave lessons to the children.

The community collects reading material donated by people from all over Indonesia. It also publishes its activities on social media to encourage more people to donate books to children in remote regions.

Thus far, the community has established 14 libraries in five cities and regencies. To stop the children from getting bored, books are periodically exchanged between the libraries.

Currently, Love Borneo has 40 members divided into several groups that oversee libraries in the villages.

Tanjungpura University lecturer Aswandi said the poor literacy culture in remote regions was caused by lack of access to books. This is despite the importance of reading in early childhood development. Through reading, children’s critical thinking, creativity and imagination can be nurtured.

Education and Culture Ministry data shows that only 2,872 out of West Kalimantan’s 4,381 elementary schools (65.5 percent) have libraries. Nationwide, only 55 percent of 149,000 elementary schools in Indonesia have libraries.

West Kalimantan Governor Sutarmidji said his administration had made efforts to improve locals’ reading interest by establishing libraries in villages under the independent village program.