Jakarta (ANTARA) – The National Library (Perpusnas) has called for making the Social Inclusion-Based Library Transformation (TPBIS) effort the basis for realizing library development and improving the literacy culture in Indonesia.”In modern times, libraries play an active role in reaching the people,” PerpusnasHead Muhammad Syarif Bando said during the “2023 Library National Coordination Meeting” here on Monday.
“They are not just a space to store books,” he added.
The transformation has to be done in line with the new paradigm of libraries, under which 10 percent of a library’s duty is managing its collection, 20 percent is managing knowledge, and 70 percent is transferring knowledge.
Bando then urged regional library offices to align their perceptions concerning libraries and literacy, especially in view of the new paradigm.
Library workers have long abandoned technical duties in the form of cataloging and classification of collections and now, their responsibilities are already headed toward a new paradigm, he underlined.
“Thus, what is most important is to educate office heads in provinces, districts/cities to align perception,” he stressed.
The Perpusnas has implemented the TPBIS program since 2018. Under the program, libraries have transformed into public spaces for people to train contextually, hone their skills, and share their experiences.
From 2018 to this day, the TPBIS program has reached 399 districts/cities and 3,985 villages, with 2,133,918 members participating in 85,776 activities at libraries.
Benefit recipients received training to improve their skills as well as participated in promotional activities such as information dissemination, literacy tours, and storytelling.
In addition, technical guidance was provided to 1,804 regional library staff and 2,196 village library managers, while training was given to 79 master trainers and 415 regional facilitators.
The number of partners has reached 450 village libraries, with the number of training activities reaching 1,661 in January. The activities involves 70,615 participants.
Source: Antara News Agency