UNAIR NEWS – Gresik Regency Library and Archive Service developed City Mini Library (Pusmintali) since January 2017. Pusmintali was established so that it could reach people who cannot reach Gresik City public library.
Pusmintali is located at eight bus stop points in Gresik Regency, so the general public who are waiting for public transportation can read Pusmintali’s book collection. The mechanism is easy, people can read books without binding regulations. Interestingly, there are no attendants in Pusmintali area. The collection of books in Pusmintali can only be read on the spot.
“Public libraries are sometimes difficult to reach by the public because of the quite remote location. To solve the problem, an innovation called Pusmintali was made, ” said Nove E. Variant Anna as a lecturer of Faculty of Vocational Studies.
Nove said the Pusmintali Collection include magazines, general knowledge, religion, and collections related to city of Gresik. Book variations are provided to give people’s knowledge and insight. The book collection also considers the needs of the readers. The bus users are workers and students who come in the morning and return in the afternoon.
Bus users, Nove explained, could stop by Pusmintali to ‘borrow’ available collections and bring them home and return them later. To facilitate these services, Pusmintali needs to provide service rules so that visitors know their rights and obligations. In addition, a system without supervision is implemented to educate Gresik community to maintain public facilities, behave honestly, and be responsible.
“Every two months officers will come to Pusmintali, check the condition of the collection, and add new collections. Pusmintali, which had been implemented for more than one year, is still used by people who come to the bus stop, ” she continued.
In the end, she explained that Pusmintali is expected to build public awareness of the public library. Pusmintali can be a promotional media for public libraries, where posters and announcements related to the library can be published at Pusmintali, so that people who come to the bus stop can read the information. Pusmintali can also provide information on literacy education through posters containing invitations to maintain library collections, providing information that library collections must not be damaged. The collection is important for others so the collection must be maintained. It also educated people to be responsible for the small thing.
Author: Tunjung Senja Widuri
Editor: Nuri Hermawan
Source: https://digital commons.unl.edu/libphilprac/2402/
