National Library, the Highest in the World, Sheltering Community Literacy Materials
The National Library is a government institution that is not at all related to ministry agencies and is under the president. This pride of Indonesia has many facilities and can be visited at Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan, Number 11, Jakarta.
In 2017, the National Library had a new building inaugurated directly by President Joko Widodo on September 14. This new building is the latest service facility of the National Library with a height of more than 126 meters.
The new building with 27 floors then made Indonesia the country with the tallest library building in the world. Wow, that's really cool, friends!
Brief History of the National Library
The National Library of Indonesia was first established on May 17, 1980. The initial idea for this construction was to realize the implementation and development of the national library system, so the Minister of Education and Culture at that time, Daoed Joesoef, initiated this construction.
However, long before that, around 1778, the precursor to the National Library began with the establishment of the Bataviaasch Genootschap. This institution was then dissolved in 1950.
Now, the National Library has become a national-scale institution that encompasses all groups. Indeed, the National Library is open to the public, but all of its collections cannot be taken home when borrowed. They can only read them there.
Facilities Available
Inside the 27-story National Library building, there are certainly not just piles of books. There are many things that friends can learn and see to broaden their knowledge. In fact, on the rooftop, friends can also enjoy the beautiful view of the vast expanse of Jakarta.
Friends can explore various exhibitions on the 4th floor while enjoying food options because there is a cafeteria on the same floor. If friends want to read rare books that are only owned by the National Library, they can go to the 14th floor.
Back on the lower floor, which is the 3rd floor, friends can witness various performances that are being held as an effort to promote reading culture. The National Library also provides book services with audiovisuals on the 8th floor, right below the 7th floor which is dedicated to children, the elderly, and people with disabilities.
How to Register as a Member
To register as a library member, friends must go to the 2nd floor, which is the library membership service floor. Friends need to bring an ID card, fill out the provided form, and include an active phone number and email address.
Membership registration can also be done online by visiting the membership page at keanggotaan.perpusnas.go.id and filling in all the required data. After that, friends will receive a member number and password to be used for log in.
Once successfully registered as a member of the National Library, friends can enjoy facilities such as catalog card searching or OPAC, reading rooms for books, magazines, newspapers, and even rare collections.
Friends can also request collections as 3 special titles to be opened and requests for reproduction in the form of photocopies, recordings, or digital formats.
Every September 14, the best visitor of the National Library will be selected in commemoration of Library Visit Day and Reading Culture. Here, National Library members have the right to participate in the selection.
How to Obtain an ISBN for a Book
Not only dedicated to book lovers who want to read the collections of the National Library, but authors are also provided with a special facility, which is to register their books to be listed in the National Library database.
This can be done by authors through the publishers who publish their books by registering the ISBN number, which also serves to enter the international base. The registration of this ISBN is completely free of charge.
Friends only need to go to the website isbn.perpusnas.go.id. Then friends must enter some data and documents such as the company deed as proof of the publisher's establishment.
When the publisher registration has been confirmed, friends must register the book to be published to obtain an ISBN number by entering the author's name, editor's name, number of pages, and year of publication. After that, wait no later than 2 days excluding holidays to receive the ISBN from the National Library.
Well, that is an explanation about the National Library, which has the tallest library building in the world. We should be proud, friends, of this fact. Moreover, the library is proof that a country has attention to literacy and education for its people.
Surely, having a library as cool as the National Library should not just be for show. If you have time, let's visit there and enjoy the facilities provided.
Author: Nisa Maulan Shofa
