UNS — Team 41 of Student Community Service Program (KKN) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta in collaboration with Karang Taruna Rogodadi village, Buayan Subdistrict, Kebumen, Central Java, build the village library or taman baca masyarakat concept into reality. This program was dubbed as “Pengembangan Taman Baca Masyarakat Pustaka Sadewa” (Taman Baca Masyarakat Pustaka Sadewa development). This program was initiated by the Karang Taruna, but due to several circumstances regarding the availability of places, books collection, and bookshelves, this program requires further development before it is officially opened and used by the community.
As the coordinator of Team 41 KKN UNS, Ambarsasi Nur Fatimah explained on Friday (26/2/2021) that this program aims to provide a means for children in Rogodadi village to increase children’s interest in reading, to improve children’s science literacy, and critical thinking to face future challenges. The program started with inviting the community to donate their books through Instagram and WhatsApp. The team and Karang Taruna member’s next step are building bookshelves with the community members’ help.
Their program’s top event was held on Saturday – Sunday (20-21/2/2021) by inviting the children to the coloring event and creating cord bracelets on Saturday and outbound surrounding the village on Sunday. Team 41 KKN UNS always apply health protocols in their offline activities, asking the children to wear a mask from home, spraying hand sanitizer before entering the room, and keep the physical distance.
Representing her team, Ambarsasi hopes that their program will inspire other villages to build their library. “Hopefully, in the future, there will be more village libraries to spark reading spirit in children so that they will master four competencies demanded in the 21st century, including critical thinking, creative thinking, communicative, and collaborative,” she concluded. Humas UNS
Reporter: Zalfaa Azalia Pursita
Editor: Dwi Hastuti
