The Jakarta Provincial Government has officially extended the operating hours of Jakarta Library and HB Jassin Literary Documentation Center (PDS) until late at night. Moving forward, it’s not just these two places that will be open until late at night. Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung said that currently Jakarta Library and PDS HB Jassin are officially open from 09.00 to 22.00. Previously, these places could only be visited until 16.00. According to Pramono, they will not only keep these two places open until late at night. In the future, there will be other libraries in Jakarta that will be open until late at night.
“Right now, we will open the main library in Cikini and the one currently under renovation, hopefully when the renovation is done, Nyi Ageng Serang, we will also open that until late at night,” he said on Friday. Additionally, Pramono added that they will request five libraries managed by the Jakarta Administrative City Government to be open until late at night. This way, there will be more options for visiting libraries that operate until late at night.
“I have also asked the libraries managed by the mayor, each city has five, they will also be opened later,” he said. He mentioned that there are 23 A-accredited libraries in Jakarta. Eight of them are managed by the Jakarta Provincial Government, while the rest are owned by schools, ranging from elementary, junior high, and senior high schools.
“Therefore, the Head of the Library Department will collaborate with the Education Department to make use of it. Because literacy processes are not only in libraries. Literacy can happen anywhere, even in mobile libraries,” he said. Furthermore, Pramono stated that the Jakarta Provincial Government is ready to manage the National Library (Perpusnas), which is currently under the authority of the central government. If managed by the Provincial Government, Perpusnas will be open until late at night.
“If Jakarta is given the opportunity to manage it, I would like to keep it open until late at night. If possible,” he said.
