Bahasa Indonesia: Walikota Resmikan CB-Palembang

In front of more than 100 people the Mayor of Palembang shared how he supports all that Cinta Baca is doing to open up libraries throughout Indonesia for this is something the community really needs. Others present included the Head of the Library & Documentation Archive , the sub-district head (Camat), the Seberang Ulu I District Administrator (Lurah), the head of police(Kapolsek) and a number of teachers and students from schools in the area.

“What Cinta Baca is doing is very good for the community will greatly benefit from it. We need to raise up literacy in order to grow in wisdom and avoid ignorance. Actually there aren’t any people who are really ignorant, just lazy. If one is diligent in reading, he will grow in knowledge and wisdom” explained the mayor.

The mayor went on to explain that the government must continue to work at increasing the quality of the citizens of Palembang. To support the increase of literacy, the government of the city of Palembang this year is going to open 70 reading post throughout the different communities. Palembang needs to have 2 Reading Post for every Kelurahan (sub-district), so it will eventually need 214 post for its 107 sub-districts.

The Cinta Baca Palembang Library and Learning center opened with 5000 titles with plans to add another 10,000 books shortly. It is located in a ruko at Jl. KH Wahid Hasyim. The first floor holds the library for children and the second floor contains the rest of the books. Also available is a meeting or classroom that will be used to support a number of non-formal educational programs.

During the opening ceremony the mayor of Palembang donated 5 computers capable of connecting to the Internet. This donation was made to the members of the local community as a way to provide them with greater access to information that will enable them to grow in wisdom.

Cinta Baca’s 8th Anniversary

The official opening to the Palembang Learning Center was done on the very day of Cinta Baca’s founding 8 years ago on September 14, 2001. The ceremony was covered by a local television station and included a number of different dances.

In addition to the opening ceremony the mayor donated the book entitled “Visit Musi 2009” and also provided 50 school books symbolically. These 50 books were received earlier by the Director of Palembangs Libraries & Archive Department on September 9th 2009.

Mrs Nurhayati (right) the Director of the Department of Libraries & Archives (Badan Arsip, Persputakaan dan Dokumentasi ) of the city of Palembang donates books to Cinta Baca’s national director (left). (11/09/09) .In his speech, Cinta Baca’s national Director Ir. Arison L. Hasibuan shared how Cinta Baca currently has 36 community Learning centers (PPM – Pusat Pembelajaran Masyarakat) which provide library and non-educational services to the community. These 36 centers are located in seven provinces of Indonesia (West Java, Banten, Aceh, South Sumatra, Northern Sumatra, Lampung and Sulawesi).

As an organization that is committed to the education of the people of Indonesia, Cinta Baca will continue to provide library service through a strategy of opening up Reading Post. At this time they are in the process of opening up 50 new posts so by 2010 they will have 200 Reading Posts which will become the base for CB’s non-formal educational programs.

This is no small or easy task, for Indonesia has more than 50,000 villages that do not yet have a library. To reach this goal Mr. Arison encouraged other to get involved like Bank Samsul and other companies in the past have done. This challenge was received well bu the head of the SumSel Bank who was present at the opening ceremony and they are wanting to donated books to the library. Besides this the motorcycle company PT. Tharin Motor also donated 2 five level book shelves for this opening. (*/001CB)

Below are some other pictures from this event:

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