Joint funding suggested to sustain community reading parks: MPR

 People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) suggested the central government, regional governments, and businesses to build a joint funding scheme in order to keep the community reading parks (TBM) operate.

MPR Deputy Speaker Lestari Moerdijat stressed the sustainability of TBM must not depend on a single funding source.​​​​​​​

"TBM financing cannot continue to depend on one source. A measurable, transparent, and sustainable mutual cooperation ecosystem must be built," she said in a statement received here 

The statement followed up on findings from a survey of 172 TBM managers in 27 provinces, published in the July 2026 edition of the ASPIRASI journal.

According to the survey, 58 percent of TBM consider their book collections inadequate and only 18 percent say their collections are adequate. Meanwhile, 49 percent of TBM have more than 30 child readers, a sign that public interest is high.​​​​​​​

Moerdijat said funding problems worsened after the 2026 budget ceiling of the National Library fell from around Rp721 billion to Rp377 billion.

She revealed that as a result, the book distribution program to villages and TBM, which distributed about 1,000 books per location in 2024-2025, had to be temporarily halted.

Moerdijat pointed out that regional governments have the authority to allocate funds to strengthen literacy services, including through regional budget (APBD) and village funds in accordance with regulations.

Local governments could explore partnership with publishers and universities. Publishers donate books, while universities provide capacity-building assistance for managers and volunteers.

Evaluating fiscal policies that burden book production and distribution costs, including taxes on paper raw materials, is also deemed necessary.

She also highlighted the National Community Literacy Development Index as of March 2026, which stands at 40.6, a low category. Moerdijat argued that the figure will not move without real funding intervention at the grassroots level.

"Literacy is the foundation of national sovereignty. If the next generation cannot examine information well because of low literacy skills, it could erode national sovereignty in the future," she noted.