Literature is important for the Nation Civilization

Neglect of HB Jassin Literary Documentation Centre is a mirror of cultural decline of literacy in the country, which have an impact on the lack of appreciation of literature. In fact, literature has an important role in shaping the nation's civilization.

"Leaving the neglected literary documentation center showed destruction of our civilization," said Martin Aleida, prolific writer who wrote short stories and books, on Wednesday (23 / 3). He considered the policy makers ignore the PDS HB Jassin because they do not have a strong cultural literacy, so do not think most comprehensive documentation center in Indonesian literature as something important.

Due to lack of funds, manager of PDS HB Jassin plans to close the documentation center was established in 1977. Tens of thousands of collections of works of literature and documentation relating to the literature were threatened.

The role of literature is very important to build civilization. Through literature, says Martin, one does not only develop the imagination that can be used to build the nation, but also as a medium to pass on the value of local wisdom to the young generation. Local wisdom that has shaped the national identity of Indonesia.

According to Martin, the neglect of literature stems from poor education system in Indonesia, which only entered the literature as reading material to memorize the story, not to be appreciated. Students read literary works through the synopsis prepared teachers. Students understand the outline of the story, but not capable of understanding the values ​​to be conveyed by the author.

This happens because most of the literary work in Indonesia was still in the area of ​​adults. Not many works of literature written back in easily understood language of children or adolescents, as has been done overseas.

Nirwan Dewanto author and poet said, through literature, language owned by a nation turned on and updated constantly. Through literature, people have the media to hang out and "play" with the language. "The development of language is characteristic of advanced human civilization," said Nirwan.

Effort to raise awareness of the literature, according to him, should continue to be done, not only move when already there are cases such as PDS HB Jassin. To save the PDS HB Jassin and other documentation centers, Nirwan saw the need for efforts from all parties, both government and society. For private parties want to get involved, the government need to encourage by providing incentives such as tax relief.

Neglect of documentation centers and libraries in Indonesia, according to Ninis Agustini, Lecturer Department of Information and Library Science Faculty of Communication University of Padjadjaran, Bandung, because people are reluctant to use it due to lack of information about the book or document sought.

This happens because the documentation center and library has not been handled by appropriate experts. There's an understanding that librarians simply a book keeper. "A librarian in addition be responsible for collection management must also be a consultant for visitors who want to access the collection," said Ninis. In some developed countries, librarians in the elementary course should be educated at least master the field of libraries.(