“It is not uncommon to find school libraries being managed by teachers. This is basically a good initiative to address the lack of professional librarians,” he said during a National Librarians Day event at the National Library (Perpusnas) in Jakarta on Monday.
However, these teachers often lack the basic skills required to properly manage libraries, he said. For this reason, the Primary and Secondary Education Ministry will collaborate with Perpusnas and the Indonesian Librarian Association (IPI) to address the gap, he added.
“Since their primary responsibility is fulfilling their duties as teachers, they only need basic-level training—no need for advanced proficiency,” Mu’ti said.
The minister also emphasized the importance of implementing the capacity-building plan alongside efforts to increase and diversify literature collections in school libraries.
“Such efforts can help improve the literacy rate and creativity of schoolchildren across the country,” he pointed out.
Meanwhile, Perpusnas head E. Aminudin Aziz called on librarians to expand their role beyond managing books, urging them to make the most of the digital space to contribute to public enlightenment.
“In addition to serving as book guardians, librarians can emerge as agents of social transformation by leveraging digital technology to facilitate information dissemination and learning activities. Librarians must be able to keep up in this era of technological disruption,” he affirmed.
He said that librarians should possess the ability to leverage technology to expand service coverage, drive innovation, and foster an inclusive, adaptive, and sustainable ecosystem for literature.
“We hold a crucial responsibility to make libraries platforms for lifelong learning—a place where knowledge, creativity, and innovation grow,” he added.
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Translator: Lintang B, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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