0 Weekly 5: Libraries, reading rooms extend bookworms’ shelf life

In some situations, during this digital era, a digital book may be a better option than a printed book. However, some bookworms still prefer to sniff the smell of ink and flip through paper pages rather than gazing over an e-book. Thankfully, the capital city still offers places where people can get free access to printed books. Here is a partial list of reading places that can be found in Greater Jakarta.

Freedom Institute
“Neither man nor nation can exist without a sublime idea”. This quote from a Russian writer, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, can be seen upon a bookshelf at the Freedom Institute Library, an encouraging reminder for its visitors. The Freedom Institute is found on Jl. Proklamasi No. 41 in Menteng, Central Jakarta, the library provides a collection of books in the fields of philosophy, social sciences and humanities. Currently, there are no less than 10,700 books, 70 percent of which are in English, in the library that opens everyday except on national holidays. The library features high ceilings, towering wooden bookshelves and a number of reading cubicles also offers free Wi-Fi.

The National Library
The National Library — housed across two buildings on Jl. Salemba Raya and Jl. Merdeka Selatan, both in Central Jakarta — boasts a collection of 1.8 million books and documents, including 10,000 antique manuscripts with the oldest dating back to the 12th century. Although the library is open for the public, much of the collection cannot be taken off the property. “Some of the latest collections available at our library on Jl. Merdeka Selatan, can be loaned, but most of our collection can only be read on site,” Martini, the library’s information officer said. 

She said that the library welcomes hundreds of visiting students on school trips everyday. “We hope to cultivate the nation’s reading habits by inviting schools to the library everyday. We have annual events attended by school students that are intended to inspire them to visit libraries more often,” she said. Crystal of Knowledge, University of Indonesia Built in 2010, the seven-story, sophisticated library at the University of Indonesia, Depok has a collection of 1.5 million books and journals, collected from the libraries of the university’s faculties. 

Equipped with hundreds of computers and Internet access across the whole library, the enormous bibliotheca also has a number of coffee shops and restaurants. “Only the university’s students can borrow the books. Any visitor is welcome to read the book on site and copy a limited number of pages,” Rahmat, the library’s staff officer said.

Library@Senayan
Located in the Sudirman area, within the Education Ministry complex, Library@Senayan was granted a collection of books from the British Council Library, which closed in September 2004 The two-story library, which offers visitors around 10,000 books spanning various genres, is also equipped with rooms for watching films, to hold book discussions as well as a cafeteria. “Everybody is free to access the library’s facilities by submitting a copy of their Greater Jakarta identity card, a single passport photo and Rp 5,000 (US 52 cents) to cover the administration fee,” Citra the library staff officer said.

The Reading Room
Nasya Andita, 23, a student at the University of Indonesia, said that finding a comfortable place to work on her thesis is important, and the Reading Room in Kemang, South Jakarta, is one of her choices. The two-story café features thousands of books shelved from floor to ceiling is open from Monday to Sunday. “With [such a wide] choice of books, this place offers its visitors not only a place to have a cup of coffee but excellent reading to kill boredom,” she said. — JP

source : the jakarta post