Surabaya Government Distributes Thousands of Books to Reading Corners

Surabaya (Antara Jatim) -  The Surabaya city government in East Java has distributed thousands of text books to public reading corners which have displayed reading interest.

"We have given priority to public reading corners which have many readers. One of them is a public reading corner in the former site of Dolly red light district," Chief of the Surabaya City Archive and Library Affairs Office, Arini Pakistyaningsih, said here on Thursday.

Having received recognition as a literacy city, the local government must maintain the reading interests of its residents, particularly children, she said.

Reading is an important part of human life which increases knowledge, she said. By reading books frequently, people will obtain much knowledge, she said.

The Rek Ayo Rek (RAR) Community for Surabaya has donated 1,000 textbooks to the Surabaya Library.

"We have collected one thousand textbooks in one month from several institutes of higher learning in Surabaya, social organizations and individuals," Chairman of the RAR Community, Herman Rivai, said when delivering the textbooks to the Balai Pemuda Public Library here on Wednesday.

He noted that Surabaya has promoted itself as a literacy city for many years, and the campaign will encourage city residents to read and write books.
   
Among the institutes of higher learning that donated books to the library are the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS), Surabaya State Islamic University (UINSA), and Airlangga University.

The donated books mostly focus on politics, military, religion, novels, culture, education and technology.(*)