The Government of Mataram City, West Nusa Tenggara province, inaugurated the Mataram City Library and Archives Office Building on the South Ring Road as a digital library as well as a forum to improve community literacy.
The inauguration of the library building, which was built with a budget of Rp11 billion with assistance from the central government, was carried out by the Inspector of the National Library of the Republic of Indonesia Wahyu Nurhayati, marked by a ribbon cutting wreath with the mayor of Mataram H Mohan Roliskana, which began with the launch of the Mataram Digital Library E-Book (Digital Library), in Mataram, Thursday.
Present at the event were Deputy Mayor of Mataram TGH Mujiburrahman, Mataram City Secretary Lalu Alwan Basri, assistant officers, Head of Library and Archives Service of Mataram City Jemmy Nelwan, and leaders of regional apparatus organizations (OPD) throughout Mataram City and other related parties.
Inspector of the National Library of Indonesia Wahyu Nurhayati on the occasion said that the provision of special allocation funds (DAK) physical for the construction of libraries to the city of Mataram amounting to Rp11 billion is intended to improve library services and reduce various inequalities.
“It is possible that in the area there is a library in terms of services already running, but physically the building is not yet adequate,” he said.
Therefore, the National Library has a physical DAK program that aims to improve in addition to services also love to read for literacy.
This is in accordance with the 3 priority programs of the National Library, namely strengthening the reading and literacy culture, mainstreaming Nusantara manuscripts, and standardizing library development.
On the other hand, Nurhayati considered that the library in Mataram City was more advanced than other areas. This is evidenced by the delivery of Book Aid to several villages.
“That is, there are activities that are almost the same as the National Library. Mataram is one step ahead, ” he said.
Mataram mayor H Mohan Roliskana said the library building is a concrete manifestation of the city government’s commitment to creating a more intelligent, creative and innovative society.
“This building was designed with a vision for the future, as a symbol of transformation towards a brighter future,” he said.
According to him, the current library has evolved no longer only serves as a place to store books, but also a center of Science, Collaboration, and Community Empowerment.
In fact, the library building already reflects the spirit of inclusiveness by providing space for all people, from children, people with disabilities, to small and medium businesses.
“Thus, the existence of the library is able to provide access to information and knowledge, as well as a positive place to learn and gather,” he said.
Head of the Mataram City Library and Archives Office Jemmy Nelwan in his report said that the area of the library building built was 1,390 square meters on an area of 6,586 square meters.
“With DAK Rp11 billion, we split it into two, namely Rp10 billion for physical and Rp1 billion for other needs,” he said.
The inauguration of the Mataram City Library building was coupled with the delivery of computer assistance, shelves, library materials, mandir replication, social inclusion-based library Transformation program (TPBIS) to three kelurahan
The three villages that received assistance include Monjok Timur Village, Cakranegara Selatan Baru, and Abian Tubuh Baru village.