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Books for Aceh Project

A familiar glimpse of devastation in the wake of the tsunami that engulfed Aceh in December 2004

Women and children affected by the tsunami make their selections from reading material provided by the National Library through its regional officer, Ralph Sanderson

A small-scale library assistance project using people-to-people contacts has brought good results in the tsunami-affected province of Aceh. Earlier this year the National Library began a program of book donations to libraries in Aceh, drawing on the resources of its Regional Office in Jakarta, Indonesia. Using personal contacts with staff of the National Library of Indonesia and the provincial library in Aceh, the Library’s consignments of children’s books and light reading materials in the Indonesian language are now being brought directly to people temporarily housed in refugee camps and shelters. The response has been enthusiastic and the local library staff, working hard to deliver much-needed reading materials, have been heartened by the support from Australia.

Soon after the earthquake and tsumani of 24 December 2004, the news from Aceh on the situation of libraries was not good. Libraries had been open that day (a normal working day in Indonesia). The Provincial Library in Banda Aceh (the main public library) still stood after the disaster but most of the library’s collection had been destroyed and 23 staff of the Provincial Library had lost their lives, including the Library’s director. The Aceh Information and Documentation Centre, a small library with a specialist collection on Aceh, was completely destroyed and the collection lost. At least two of Aceh’s eight public library branches were destroyed while several mobile library vans were swept away in the floods.

The National Library of Indonesia (NLI) quickly began assistance and relief efforts. Its own staff contributed cash donations of over 30 million rupiah (about $5000), which was given directly to library colleagues in Aceh. Several fully equipped mobile library vans were driven to Banda Aceh and NLI adopted a liaison role to help the library staff recover from the disaster. The NLI’s director, Mr Dady Rachmananta, commented in a report that reading materials were urgently needed by those living in temporary camps for displaced persons, where shelter and makeshift classrooms for children had been established.

To meet this need, the National Library of Australia asked its regional officer in Jakarta, Ralph Sanderson, to purchase new children’s books and light reading materials for donation to Aceh libraries. Our purpose was simple—to give people, especially children, something to read in their own language for recreation and entertainment, as a relief from the experiences suffered in the disaster.

Our Jakarta staff were happy to oblige, selecting Indonesian romance novels, magazines and children’s books (mostly items not normally acquired for the National Library’s collection!). With the assistance of the NLI, Ralph Sanderson established personal contact with Aceh Provincial Library staff and a way was soon found to ship books safely to Aceh.

When, in May 2005, the Provincial Library reopened for business, Ralph travelled to Banda Aceh to be there for the ceremony. His visit coincided with the delivery of the first shipment of over 900 books from the NLA Regional Office in Jakarta.

Ralph was warmly welcomed by the new head of the Provincial Library, Mr Kamaruddin, and his staff who had been working hard to re-establish services. Ralph was given a tour of the library facilities and detailed information on the library’s situation.

Ina report, Ralph wrote:

I also joined the visit of one of the new mobile library vans (donated by the National Library of Indonesia) to Semik Barracks, one of many locations established to accommodate local residents displaced by the earthquake and tsunami. During the visit I spoke to some of the children and took the impromptu opportunity to read a couple of stories to a group of boys who had gathered around, although they did seem more interested in me and wanted to know whether I was a Muslim, to see the photo I had in my wallet of my family and to look at the St Christopher medallion I was wearing! The visit by the library van was very popular and those who attended were mostly children and mums. Many were keen to know whether they could borrow books on that day.

The Library made an initial allocation of $13 000 to the book donation project and funding will continue for the next six to twelve months. In support of the project, six independent Canberra booksellers ran a fund-raising campaign in June 2004. Altogether more than $8000 was donated to the Library by the booksellers and individuals to continue the book purchasing project.

There is still a lot to do. The Provincial Library building requires structural repair and a replacement collection. Once the building is functional (a construction project is planned), the Library will commence donations of reference and educational materials in both the Indonesian and English languages to start the long process of rebuilding the collection. In this way we hope to assist colleagues in Aceh to re-establish the public library service as a vital and important part of Aceh’s civil society.

Amelia McKenzie

Director,
Asian Collections