UNAIR NEWS – The existence of street children has become a phenomenon that is often found in urban environments. The number of street children in Indonesia is estimated to continue to increase from year to year. As a metropolitan city, Surabaya has become a fertile ground for the growth of street children due to urbanization and poverty.
Through social services, the government gives special attention to the phenomenon of street children. One of them is through the provision of educational space through the library as it was done by Surabaya City Social Service which established the Regional Service Technical Implementation Unit (UPTD) ‘Kampung Anak Negeri’ as a special library for street children.
UPTD ‘Kampung Anak Negeri’ is a place for street children in Surabaya who are of the average age at compulsory school age to develop and fulfill their learning obligations as students. The UPTD Library ‘Kampung Anak Negeri’ aims to help street children meet the needs of reading materials according to age development and improve mental quality and moral intelligence.
Fitri Mutia, A.KS., M.Si., lecturer of Information Science and Library of UNAIR in her research on the condition of the UPTD ‘Kampung Anak Negeri’ states that the type of information that is often accessed by street children is mostly related to interests and talents. For example, music or sports, as well as information regarding school work.
To meet the needs of the collection, the UPTD Kampung Anak Negeri library cooperates with Surabaya’s public library to always get a collection of readings that are under the information needs of street children. Some of the services provided by this library include on-site reading services, circulation services and information retrieval services. Besides, some services are carried out at any time such as storytelling, book resumes and drama plays.
“This social institution organizes various beneficial activities for street children to avoid the emergence of wider social problems. Such as mental-spiritual guidance, physical guidance, social interest and talent, skills, including cognitive guidance that is held by implementing informal education programs, “she explained.
Not only that, the existence of a special library organized by UPTD, allows street children to equip themselves with useful knowledge in facing the information society era.
“For example, they are taught skills in making hand-made crafts, writing stories from the books provided, painting or drawing creatively to fill their free time with materials that have been provided by the UPTD,” he said.
Mutia assessed that from the aspect of the collection, facilities and infrastructure, library services and human resources (librarians) UPTD ‘Kampung Anak Negeri’ did not meet the standards under the 2011 National Library Standards (SNP). However, through the library street children had alternative spaces to develop interests and talents, and establish interactions with peers. Besides, the librarians in the UPTD Kampung Anak Negeri library have collaborated (collaborated) with UPTD Trustees staff to develop strategies to help street children get the right and correct information, including assisting street children together completing their schoolwork.
“This collaborative effort can certainly be an example for other specialized libraries so that the success of service to users can be more optimal,” he concluded. (*)
Author: Zanna Afia
Editor: Nuri Hermawan
Reference
Mutia, Fitri. 2016. The Analysis Condition of Special Library for Street Children at UPTD “Kampung Anak Negeri” Institutions. Record and Library Journal, Vol. 2 (2) p.118-127
Link
