Starfruit (malangkota.go.id) – Deputy Mayor of Malang Drs. Sutiaji inaugurated the Kampung Budaya Library located in Polowijen Village, Blimbing District, Malang City, Saturday (10/6). Rector of Widyagama University Malang Iwan Nugroho, Member of Malang City DPRD Erni Farida, Head of Malang City Education Office Dra. Zubaidah, MM and several community leaders were present at the inauguration.
The library in Polowijen Cultural Village was realized with the help of the academic community of Widyagama University Malang. It began when the students were conducting a field visit to the thematic village and saw the high interest in reading among the community.
Starting from that, the students carried out a thousand book donation movement and the result was 1.135 books were successfully collected and donated. And there was still an additional one gazebo that was given to the residents.
What the Widyagama University community has done has received appreciation from Deputy Mayor Sutiaji. "On behalf of the Malang City Government, I would like to say thank you. This Widyagama University movement is very much worthy of appreciation," said Sutiaji.
He added that so far the culture of reading books in Indonesia, including in Malang City, is still relatively low. This must be improved through various efforts. "Unlike our friends abroad, the interest in reading is very high so they can be creative," he said.
Therefore, Deputy Mayor Sutiaji appealed that in the future the book collection in the Polowijen Cultural Village Library be slowly added to and adjusted to the interests of the community and visitors so that it can add positive value.
The presence of the Polowijen Cultural Village must also continue to be encouraged so that its existence can be better known to the wider community and be able to attract tourists, both domestic and even international.
Meanwhile, the Rector of Widyagama University Malang Iwan Nugroho, hopes that the books that have been donated can be maximized by the community. "Hopefully by reading books can increase knowledge and can provide benefits to the community," he hoped.
Iwan Nugroho also said that the per capita income in Malang City is very high. This is indicated by the growth of spaces of expression, one of which is the cultural space in the Polowijen Cultural Village. "Indeed, this tourism can boost the economy," he explained.
Appreciating the book assistance that has been given by Widyagama University, Isa Wahyudi who is a local community figure expressed his gratitude and hoped that this book assistance would be useful for the community. "This Cultural Village was formed to preserve the culture in Malang," he added. (say/yon)
