Lismah Rahmawati, Enlivening Regional Library of Cirebon

Immersed in literacy instruction for years, Lismah Rahmawati claimed she had never been bored. Library 400 She feel happy when children are enthusiastically listening as she read books, when they are asking and laughing.

KOMPAS/ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

Lismah Rahmawati

Lismah Rahmawati, 54, felt disturbed when she found Library 400 of Cirebon city was visited by only a few, and by hardly any young children. This literacy activist then volunteered to make the regional library livelier. Now visitors can attend classes on storytelling, knitting, handicraft making and cooking.

Every Tuesday at 11:00 a.m., Lismah opens a storytelling class at Library 400 of Cirebon city, West Java. Dozens of young children are frequently present there. While the children are listening to stories, their mothers spend the time knitting.

“During the month of Ramadan, the storytelling and knitting programs keep going. In April there will even be glass painting the decoupage [decorating objects with colored paper pieces],” said Lismah at her residence in Watubelah subdistrict, Sumber district, Cirebon, on Wednesday (29/3/2023).

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The various activities have changed the face of the regional library. Lismah still remembers when she visited its reading room six years ago.

“I noticed it was almost deserted. Only a few people were reading. In fact, the building was grand and it opened through the evening,” she recalled.

She was also surprised to find almost no young children. In her view, literacy is very important to children under 6 years old.

“Although they can’t read yet, they are able to listen, perceive and increase their vocabulary. Children of that age also have good memory,” she said.

The libraries abroad can make it, why can’t we?

The condition of the library owned by the regional administration was different from that in several developed countries she had visited. Lismah once stayed with her family members in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. She occasionally took her two children or her nephew and niece to public reading rooms there.

“There they had storytelling, crafting, Arabic and Spanish courses as well as gardening for aged people. The libraries abroad can make it, why can’t we?” she said. Lismah thus wanted to apply what she had experienced to the local library. It was not simple, though.

Lismah offered her idea to introduce different classes at the regional library to an official of the Cirebon administration. However, his response was not enthusiastic. “It seemed very bureaucratic. He said the funds were lacking and so forth. I was, in fact, willing to volunteer,” she said.

KOMPAS/ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

Lismah Rahmawati (center), taking a photo with the teacher at the Kober Alam Nur Cendekia school, Cirebon Regency, West Java, Wednesday (29/3/2023).

Refusing to give up, she braced herself to meet with Mochamad Korneli, head of the Library and Archive Office of Cirebon city at the time. Although they hardly knew each other, Korneli welcomed her proposal. Lismah started her storytelling class on 10 May, 2018, on a carpet.

At the time, there were only 10 children participating along with their parents. They were also Lismah’s friends.

Unwilling to lose hope, she continued to spread information about the class by word of mouth as well as via the social media. She even printed activity brochures and kept them at the kindergartens in the vicinity of the library.

“It turned out that many residents weren’t yet aware of the presence of Library 400,” said Lismah.

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After holding it two or three times, her storytelling class was crowded by children from several early childhood educational institutions (PAUDs) and kindergartens in Cirebon. The local home-schooling community also routinely joined the library class.

With the passage of time and as proposed by visitors, other classes were opened in collaboration with various parties. They were knitting, crafting, hydroponics, photography, blogging and traditional and modern culinary classes. They were conducted at the library despite the diverse activities.

People living a long way from the library were popping in. Cooking hobbyists began reading recipe books. “Some even have sold their knitted products. Others have found new recipes for their cake businesses,” said Lismah, who once taught a playgroup in the UK.

Swelling numbers

The number of visitors to Library 400 began to swell. In 2018, a total of 65,100 people were recorded. A year later there were 102,975 visitors.

Yet the Covid-19 pandemic eroded the number visitors. Last year, 19,854 visited the library. Members of the library were around 12,000 people.

Its visitors once totaled around 300 within several hours when Lismah invited young fashion designer Akeyla Naraya to the library in early 2020. The teenage designer whose works had reached overseas destinations boosted the spirits of youngsters to achieve their aspirations.

Lately, four college students have become volunteers along with Lismah. The Cirebon city administration also facilitates the supply of materials for the classes and bears the costs of transportation. Moreover, the various classes are compatible with the government’s library transformation program based on social inclusion.

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.

Not only at the library, Lismah also spreads the “virus” of literacy through educational institutions. Since 2015, with her older sister Yayah Khasbiah, she has organized Alam Nur Cendekia Playgroup in her house. She coined the slogan “Sekolah Sehat Ramah Anak” (child-friendly healthy school).

A two-story, still unfinished house has three classrooms. There is no air conditioner. A light breeze penetrates the gaps of its bamboo window. The building is surrounded by rice fields. Trees are shading the playground. There are also marmots and pigeons.

Children should not be threatened by stories.

Lismah does not only tells stories to her 70 students but also gives tours to a number of PAUDs and kindergartens in Cirebon as far as Indramayu. The single parent of two has no objection to spending her private money on books to be read out in front of children.

She also cooperates with publisher BIG, which focuses on children’s literature. Despite their folklore origin, the books she reads are more child-friendly. The story of Malin Kundang, for instance, is not about a sinful child but instead about a child respectful of parents. “Children should not be threatened by stories,” she said.

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The farmers’ child has been interested in literacy since childhood. Her late father, H Rosyid, was a subscriber to Kompas and Bobo magazine. “So, we were reading the publications. Even when I had children, I transferred the reading habit to them,” said the third child of six siblings.

When she studied in the International Relations Department of Muhammadiyah University in Yogyakarta, Lismah applied her literacy. Along with her peers, she was engaged social devotional activity, teaching English and Islamic religion in several villages in Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta.

Immersed in literacy instruction for years, she claimed she had never been bored. “I feel happy when children are enthusiastically listening as I read books, when they are asking and laughing. As long as I’m still strong, healthy, I will keep reading out books to them. It’ll be until I expire,” she added.

Lismah Rahmawati

Born:Indramayu, 2 May, 1968

Education:

- Kartini State Elementary School, Cirebon city

- State Junior High School 3, Cirebon city

- State Senior High School 2, Cirebon city

- International Relations Department, Muhammadiyah University, Yogyakarta

Children:

- Nabeel Khawaryzmi Muna

- Ayesha Nadya Muna

Profession:

- Initiator of Kids Storytelling, Library 400, Cirebon city

- Principal of Alam Nur Cendekia Playgroup

This article was translated by Aris Prawira.