Sentani, Papua (ANTARA) - Head of the National Library Muhammad Syarif Bando inaugurated the Jayapura District Library and Archives building in Papua on Tuesday and described its construction as a milestone in improving the literacy index.

"We hope that the presence of the Jayapura District Library and Archives building will be a milestone in increasing the literacy index of the district community," he said.

The library and archives building can support the reading habit promotion in the community, he added.

According to Bando, the 1945 Constitution stipulates that all citizens must educate the life of the nation, advance public welfare, and participate in the building of world peace.

"Libraries need to contribute actively and become involved in supporting the community's economic recovery, one of which is through the Social Inclusion-Based Library Transformation (TPBIS) Program," he said.

He noted that the social inclusion-based library transformation program has been running since 2018 in many provincial, district, city, and village libraries.

"We see this TPBIS program being effective in providing benefits and improving the welfare of the community, especially marginalized communities," he said.

He added that the development of regional libraries is a part of efforts to improve the quality of human resources, according to the development priorities outlined in the 2020–2024 National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN).

"A smart nation is very likely to become a developed and prosperous country; for that every citizen, and legislative, executive, judicial bodies, military, and the police, has (to have) the same main task, namely educating the life of the nation," he said.

Indonesia's digital literacy in 2022 was categorized as moderate with a score of 3.54, based on the 2022 Digital Literacy Index survey initiated by the Communication and Informatics Ministry.

Earlier in February, Bando said that the literacy rate shows the depth of a person's knowledge of a subject, and the highest level of literacy is when someone is able to innovate and create goods and services that are competitive globally.



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Translator: Agustina J, Kenzu
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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