Perpustakaan 400’s Countless Ways to Draw Visitors

At Perpustakaan 400 in Cirebon city, visitors can take classes on storytelling, handicrafts, hydroponics and cooking. These are the countless ways the library is drawing residents in amid the low interest in reading.

KOMPAS/ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

A number of ABC Montessori Kindergarten (TK) students took part in the "Story Telling" class at the Cirebon City 400 Library, West Java, Tuesday (17/1/2023). Apart from being a place to read books, the regional library also prepares storytelling classes, making crafts, and knitting classes.

Over a dozen children sat on a carpet at Perpustakaan 400 on Jl. Brigadir Jenderal Dharsono in Cirebon city, West Java, on Tuesday (17/1/2023). They were listening enthusiastically to Lismah Rahmawati, 54, a literacy activist, who was telling a story about a child who wants to play, but his parents were indifferent.

The child’s father and mother, she narrated, were inattentive because they have a lot of work to do. The child is sad and falls asleep. Feeling guilty, the parents wake him up and say they are sorry. They promise go on holiday together with the child.