There is nothing tempting from the hallway. Maybe not if our sensibility rises on a pair of dazzling shelves there. In its strength, it passed the time while overshadowing a multitude of books, in the afternoon, again there were almost no people gathered to celebrate the presence of the elements of the Kaligatuk library, Srimulyo Village, Bantul Regency.
Let’s call that a terrible moment, but this is not only because of the continuous lonely that engulfs the reading room. Deeper, this is all about the impotence of the vision of the space, as idealized by Supriyanto, the Head of the Kaligatuk Village who gave birth to the library.
Supri, as he is usually called, tells the story, this library is a result of his self-esteem over the future of the children of Kaligatuk along with the massive dynamics of communication technology. The feeling peaked in August 2017, when he and the Student Community Service of Yogyakarta State University (KKN UNY) team agreed to establish the Kaligatuk library.
“At first we were coordinating with UNY Community Service. We have hopes, we want to hold a place for reading for children. “Let the children not only be involved in mobile phones,” Supri said.
“The majority of children here plays with cellphones. That was actually not exactly right for me. Even those who have not (entered) elementary school often also have cell phones that have parents”
Supri’s reason was not excessive in establishing the library, because, his observations showed, the use of cellphones or devices among the children of the Kaligatuk did indeed begin to enter the alert level. “The majority of children here plays with cellphones. That was actually not exactly right for me. Even those who have not (entered) elementary school often also have cell phones that have parents. Even though I have conveyed (to their parents), be careful to provide facilities to children, including mobile phones, “he continued Supri.
The establishment of the Kaligatuk library by Supri then became a wonder to save children from drowning in enjoying the latest technology. This library, according to Supri, can help control the behavior of children so that they are not consumed by the wildness of relationships that play in the activities of playing gadgets, whether using social media or virtual games.
This matter, of course Supri’s concern is not without any reasons. According to him, the existence of facilities such as mobile devices, especially vulnerable, threatens the thinking of children to be precocious. As a result, when they miss the proper phase, they are not too mature when they start living in the phase that they are facing today.
Therefore, the function of the books presented in the Kaligatuk library here is not as tragic as simply to divert children’s hobbies from playing gadgets to reading. Implicitly, Supri wanted to read books, especially through the libraries they manage, to guide the phase of children’s psychological development in the right direction.
Need more books
Supri admitted that after one year had passed, the Kaligatuk library had not shown significant movement. The limitations of the book collection are one of the main ones. He was frank, from the many books that were owned by the Kaligatuk Hamlet library, the themes that were available were new for children, making the number of visitors to the library minimal.
Most of the books were the legacy of last year’s UNY KKN team. This condition, continued Supri, was inseparable from the absence of the management structure of the library. “I honestly have not thought about the formation of the board. Now I still want to focus first on increasing collections, ”explained the 43-year-old man. This reason then made the library still managed privately by Supri, even though it was originally an asset belonging to the Kaligatuk.
Seeing the shortcomings, Supri continued to try to increase the number of books in the Kaligatuk library. Through the various stakeholder networks that he has, such as the KKN team from a number of campuses which each year occupy Kaligatuk, Supri invited them to contribute to donating books worth reading to the built library.
“This is the general theme that is still small (in number). Now we hope for the provision of other theme books such as history and general insight, “he explained. “In addition, with the many options, then children can be challenged, I have to read this, I have to read it,” Supri added.
Supri’s business did not only arrive there. At present he is starting to establish communication with the Kaligatuk Elementary School. Through the relationship, Supri hopes that in the future the student learning activities at the school can be held several times in the hamlet library. In addition to enlivening the “beat of life” of the Kaligatuk library, Supri wants the nuances of education for children to evolve.
“Yes, at least we invite them to want to be close to the library and books. How can they be interested in coming here, to be able to relax, while learning. After all, it’s always available here too, “said Supri, smiling.
(Source: https://muda.kompas.id/2018/08/01/asa-untuk-perpustakaan-kaligatuk-kabupaten-bantul/; translator: Harun Ardiansyah)