Diving In Archipelago Culture Through 9 Local Wisdom Books In National Library

JAKARTA - Books are a window of knowledge as well as a mirror of the values that live in society. When local wisdom is stated in writing, it is not only a medium of cultural documentation, but also an intellectual heritage that can be inherited across generations.

Through books, people can reflect cultural wealth and noble values from various regions in Indonesia, strengthen national identity while enriching national literacy.

In this spirit, the National Library of the Republic of Indonesia (Perpusnas) launched nine books themed Local Wisdom for Future Heritage', as part of the National Biological Literacy Incubator (ILPN) program. This launch is an important momentum to encourage a deeper understanding of local culture through literacy works.

"Women play an important role as a driving force for reflective and in-depth discussions, as well as an agent for the culture of literacy," said the Main Secretary of the National Library, Joko Santoso, at the launch of the 2024 ILPN and 2025 ILPN books as quoted by ANTARA.

ILPN itself is an initiative of the National Library Issuance Subgroup through the National Library Press. For this year, this program has the theme "Writing for the Sake of the Literacy Generation", with the aim of capturing the contribution of writers from various regions to enrich local-based literacy.

The focus of ILPN 2025 is to document and review the practice of increasing literacy in four cities, namely Medan, Yogyakarta, Semarang, and Surabaya.

The nine books that were launched were the result of writing processes in nine different regions. These titles include Stories that Unite from the Community Reading Park Forum (TBM), Pesona East Java from East Java province, as well as Traces of Dayak Culture: Heritage of Central Kalimantan ancestors from Central Kalimantan.

In addition, there are also works entitled Caring for Identity: Local Wisdom from the Land of Aceh, Bung Karno and Blitar, Recording Traces of Kutai Kartanegara Literacy, Portrait of Bengkulu Local Wisdom, Measuring in Kuningan: Local Wisdom-Based Leadership, and Traces of Heritage in the Land of Banten.

These books were written by various writers from diverse backgrounds, ranging from students, graduates, to local writers, and available digitally on the official website of the National Library Press (press.perpusnas.go.id).

Joko added that writing activities cannot be separated from reading activities. According to him, writing is not only a form of personal expression, but also a means of building intellectual dialogue, stimulating critical thinking, and deepening understanding of various social and cultural issues.

In line with that, Lydia Christiani, lecturer at the Diponegoro University's Library and Information Science Study Study Program, cited Blasius Sudarsono's thoughts about the importance of a balance between technical ability and the spirit of fire in carrying out their roles.

This imbalance, according to him, could make you just a technical executor without the spirit of kapusawatan, which he calls a "pustakawan".

Lydia invites to expand her understanding of theployment profession which is not only limited to the management of collections and information systems, but also as a public reasoning guard and efficient information access facilitator.