TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Every car-free Sunday in Pekanbaru-the capital of Riau Province-residents gather outside to exercise or to spend time with their families. On one corner near the city park, a group of young people can generally be found next to a pile of books.
Kartika Amalia, 26, usually arrives at 6am to set up the pop-up library. Her club Pondok Belantara ('Forest Lodge') views the car-free day as the perfect opportunity to generate interest in reading.
"I was introduced to the group by a friend. At the time, they were setting up a booth at a theater," Tika said. Interested in literature, she decided to volunteer. "But I can only join outside office hours," Tika said, adding that she worked at a local bank.
She said she found it difficult to find time to keep up with her reading, but the enthusiasm shown by youngsters has given her an extra boost of motivation.
"I think I need to provide an example to them of what fun reading is," she said. "Sometimes I read them a story and just watch as they listen."
Pondok Belantara was started in 2014 by youngsters who had gathered to campaign against haze from forest fires. Eko Handyko, 26, the group coordinator, said eventually the group settled on book-promotion as the best way to spread awareness.
"We thought books were the end products of the forests. They are full of knowledge. So we should save them and find ways to make people read," he said. New information sources like Google, he added, were no substitute for the immersive power of a novel.
The group soon began collecting books from friends and family. Within the first couple of months, they already had 2,000 books. "I told people, we accept any kind of buku (books); except for buku nikah (marriage certificates) or buku hutang (records of debt)," he laughed.
The group converted an empty room at a member's home into a public reading area. They named the group the Pondok Belantara (Pondok Belajar Tanpa Rasis- the 'learning without racism' lodge) to make sure everyone knew they were welcome.
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