On the Road to Papua: The National Library in Indonesia
Ralph Sanderson and Staff of the Cendrawasih University
Library, Abepura, Papua, March 2007
Staff of the Papua Provincial Library, Jayapura, Papua, March
2007
The Papua Provincial Library, Jayapura, Papua, March 2007
As the crows flies, the capital of Indonesia’s Papua province, Jayapura, is located slightly closer to Canberra (3731 km) than to the Indonesian capital, Jakarta (3780 km). Although serviced by daily flights from the capital and other cities and by weekly ferry services from other parts of the archipelago, it is a remote destination and one not often visited by representatives of the National Library’s Regional Office. Since the establishment of the NLA’s presence in Jakarta nearly 36 years ago, only two visits have previously been made—by Noraini Knight in 1984 and by Ilse Soegito in 1990.
In March this year the NLA’s Indonesian Unit Senior Librarian, Tieke Atikah, and I once again took the opportunity to visit Papua to identify and acquire local publications for inclusion in the Library’s Indonesian Collection.
Jayapura is situated on Yos Sudarso Bay, some 65 kilometres west of the border with Papua New Guinea on the north-east coast of the island of New Guinea. It has a population of approximately 250 000 and is the administrative centre of the region. It lies in a picturesque location, with the city and suburbs spread through valleys and around hills—a challenge for navigation, especially where no commercial street directory exists!
During our visit Tieke and I hired a car and local driver and paid calls on over 20 local government bodies, educational institutions, NGOs, bookshops and vendors, including the offices of the Regional People’s Representative Council, Central Bureau of Statistics, Land Board, Fisheries & Marine Service, Population & Housing Service, Tourism Service, Cenderawasih University Library, and Fajar Timur Theological and Philosophical College.
We also made a visit to the Papua Provincial Library where we met the Head of Library and undertook an escorted tour of the building. Staff of the library displayed the results of their own recent acquisitions of local publications and kindly provided a copy of a recently produced bibliography of material relating to Papua.
Despite mixed receptions from officials to our requests for publications, the visit was nevertheless considered a success. It provided us with the opportunity to experience the ‘coal face’ of collecting in that part of the world, and to meet ‘remote’ librarians and view their libraries and local conditions. We also obtained for the National Library over 50 kg of research material that might otherwise have remained inaccessible, including a vast quantity of statistical data relating to the province since 2003 and the identification of a number of newspapers and tabloids that were previously unknown.
Ralph Sanderson
Regional Office, Jakarta



