The request was made by IPI Chairperson T. Syamsul Bahri during a public hearing session (RDPU) with Commission X of the DPR and professional organizations at the meeting room of Commission X here on Tuesday.
"The percentage of librarians that have been certified is only 14.2 percent, namely 2,577 people, and those that have not been certified is 85.8 percent, namely 15,577 people in total," he highlighted.
Building the competence of librarians is essential for carrying out the operations of libraries professionally and boosting Indonesia's literacy index, he said.
According to him, a big challenge to the improvement of literacy in Indonesia is the imbalance between the number of librarians and the number of existing libraries.
As of 2023, in the 164,610 libraries in Indonesia, the number of librarians holding functional positions is only 9,385.
"Library leaders have not paid attention to the development of librarians, too, and regulations and standards concerning library staff have not been implemented optimally, while the development of science is becoming more rapid," he pointed out.
In fact, Government Regulation Number 24 of 2014 concerning the implementation of Law Number 43 of 2007 concerning Libraries regulates that librarians must have professional and personal competence.
Bahri affirmed that currently, the main focus of IPI's work programs is improving the competence of librarians, which needs policy support from the legislature.
To this end, he made recommendations to Commission X, namely, that librarians get appreciation, allowance adjustments, incentives for certification, as well as certainty and clarity regarding career and professional development.
According to him, the presence of librarians must be increasingly felt by the community because, currently, libraries have transformed into social-inclusion-based libraries.
"As librarians, we have to participate in community empowerment to attain social and economic progress, of course, with moral and material support from the executive and legislative bodies to realize Indonesian as a nation that is competitive and ready to face global competition," he said.
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Translator: Lintang Budiyanti, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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