Jakarta has many public libraries as its cores of literary infrastructure and exists in every of Jakarta’s municipal. Jakarta have 3.6 million library visits annually. You can see our library at Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) or Ismail Marzuki Garden at Cikini – Central Jakarta, which was renovated and relaunched in 2022. This TIM Library is not a just public library that provides an enormous book collection to be read, but also a public space that held various literary events for broader collaboration.
Jakarta libraries also promote a reading culture for children, youths, and people with disabilities and multicultural backgrounds. With 661.5 km2, Jakarta is a vast city with more than 10.6 million people living in it to fulfill the city’s needs of literary, Jakarta also provides mobile library with various sizes that will visit every suburb area, while universities and school libraries will support the education sector.
As the born place of libraries in Indonesia, Jakarta has been a center of expansive urban development of Indonesia since its first library was established in 1624 as a private church library from the colonial era. With that four centuries of development and all the literary resources that this city has, it is all genuine that Jakarta is a city of literature.
First launched in 2017, Indonesian National Library has 27 stories building located at Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan, Jakarta. The building’s concept is a green building which eco-friendly. With tons of book collections, including digital books, rare books, photos, maps, and paintings, this library also collects monographs, voice recordings, and films. This library is famous for its exceptional landscape views.
The Taman Ismail Marzuki is a public park that established on 1986. Located at Cikini – Central Jakarta. After being renovated for a year, the library is relaunched to the public on 2022 with a bigger building, more collections, and lots of facilities for the public to collaborate. The library is operated by Jakarta’s Provincial Library & Archive Service.
This library is placed in Kuningan, the central business area of Jakarta. Like an Oase in the middle of skyscraper buildings, this library provides lots of books collection, from children, teenagers, and adult books. This library has a big ballroom for public and educational events. This library is operated under Jakarta’s Provincial Library & Archive Service.
The library of the Erasmus Huis is a friendly, modern, and open space in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Jakarta. They have a collection of around 15.000 titles, newspapers, and magazines. They offer a wide range of Dutch literature. One can also find books on Indonesian history, Dutch and Indonesian art and culture, children’s books, and some English and Indonesian books.
From the name, this library is specialized itself as a Law Literature library, from Indonesian law up to international law references but not limited to it. You can also find other subjects. Located in the Central of Jakarta, this library is a perfect getaway space from Jakarta’s crowdedness and its hustle and bustle.
Jakarta provincial area has 5 (five) municipal areas by law and each of them has its own public library to serve the public needs of literature. Along with the book loaning service, these libraries also carried out its duty as a front guard in promoting reading culture for Jakarta citizens, especially for children and youths. These libraries are operated by Jakarta’s Provincial Library & Archive Service.