Photo: Book Handover Ceremony in the Reading Room
CILEUNGSI – Indonesia ranks 60th out of 61 countries in terms of reading interest, UNESCO data shows. This figure is inversely proportional with Wearesocial data on the country’s average gadget usage, which reaches up to nine hours a day.
Indeed, mobile devices offer a multitude of information, but not all of it can be trusted. Most information we have today is dominated by opinions from social media, not concrete facts. Don’t be surprised to see people be easy targets for hoaxes and provocative news.
Here’s where it becomes crucial to spark public interest in reading, mainly during childhood. Reading will broaden the mind and help protect the self from false information since the early age.
Like many other organizations, PT Aspex Kumbong tries to kindle this flame of interest through the Corporate Social Contribution (CSC) program. This program covers a book donation event, which the company held at Kampung Bojong Kaso Reading Room in Cileungsi Kidul Village, Cileungsi Subdistrict, Bogor Regency, Saturday (17/9).
“Building a reading culture and improving child literacy surely isn’t easy, especially in the era when everything is digitized. That’s why we, PT Aspex Kumbong’s CSC team, care about this Reading Room and would like to give our support. Hopefully, these books can help the kids develop potential, imagination, and reasoning, as well as provide room for improvement,” said Nunung, representing the CSC team.
PT Aspex Kumbong donated fairytale books, animal introduction books, junior and senior high school test prep books, and others.
Around 200 books were donated to the establishment. These include fairytales, animal introduction books, junior and senior high school test prep books, coloring books, children’s novels, comic books, recipe books, general knowledge books, and dictionaries. Along with them were 50 educational posters for kindergarten or PAUD students. The donation further shows PT Aspex Kumbong’s attention toward the national educational climate.
“On behalf of reading rooms and literacy enthusiasts, I thank PT Aspex Kumbong for the program and their concern for education. It’s a great program, really. Books to reading rooms are like oxygen to living creatures. Their presence makes the rooms more attractive and fun to be in. Also, these books are a luxury to kids who can’t afford them. And it makes them happy. This place alone has become a reading sanctuary for 60 kids, who, due to poor financial conditions, are in danger of dropping out of school,” said Ana, a staff from Kampung Bojong Kaso Reading Room. (aspex)
