Perpusnas: Tallest Building, Lowest Budget In Past 6 Years
Indonesia is home to the world’s tallest national library building – 126 meters high, with 24 floors, standing majestically in Central Jakarta.
Yet this year, its budget was cut by nearly half.
In the 2026 State Budget, the National Library (Perpusnas) received an allocation of only Rp378 billion, a 47.6% decrease from the previous year’s Rp721.7 billion. This marks the sharpest decline in the past six years.
Who Is Most Affected?
During a hearing with Commission X of the House of Representatives (DPR RI) on January 14, 2026, Perpusnas Director Endang Aminudin Aziz described the impact, “There are programs that should be handled by two work units, but we have not been able to fund them. We can no longer carry out programs such as providing 1,000 books for a single community library.”
Book donations to villages, prisons, and community health centers have been reduced or halted. The most affected are the underdeveloped regions that have had the least access to books.
Our Literacy Situation Was Already Alarming Even Before the Budget Cuts
The national Reading Enthusiasm Level (TKM) remains in the low category. The Community Literacy Development Index (IPLM) still needs to be improved in many regions. The index for Indonesian authors is also low; both the reading and writing ecosystems remain weak.
Ironically, Indonesia aims to become a developed nation by 2045, a goal that requires high-quality human resources: critical thinkers, innovators, and an informed citizenry. None of that is possible without a strong reading culture.
Novy Diana Fauzie, a literacy expert from Muhammadiyah University of Yogyakarta, believes that book distribution programs in rural areas and the practice of reading for 15 minutes before class are effective measures for fostering a culture of literacy from an early age.
“Programs such as book distribution in rural areas and reading literacy campaigns are excellent. If these programs are scaled back due to budget constraints, the impact will certainly be felt by the community, especially in areas where access to books is still limited,” she said.
The Government Doesn’t Make Cuts Without Reason
The state budget deficit has already reached 0.93% of GDP in the first quarter of this year alone, amid rising global oil prices due to the conflict in Iran.
Consequently, the total funds transferred from the central government to local governments has been cut by 24.7%, from Rp919.9 trillion to Rp693 trillion, reaching its lowest point in the past decade.
Furthermore, the highly expensive free meal program (MBG) has been sucking every penny of taxpayer money, and it is not gonna stop anytime soon. President Prabowo explicitly stated, “Let’s not go down the path of saying, ‘Okay, there’s a crisis, so we’ll stop the MBG.’ There are still many other ways we can save money.”
For all of these reasons, some things have to be sacrificed; public libraries are one of them.
Not Everyone Has a Bookstore Nearby
In many underdeveloped regions, public libraries and community reading centres are often the only reliable source of books.
With fewer books being distributed and literacy programs scaled back, the communities with the least access are once again hit the hardest.
Commission X of the House of Representatives has already expressed its support for an additional budget of Rp644.7 billion for the National Library.
Its Vice Chair Maria Yohana Esti Wijayati emphasized, “We need to improve our communication strategy to convince the Ministry of Finance, the National Development Planning Agency, and the State Secretariat of the urgency of literacy program.”
The World’s Tallest Library. But Will It Remain Accessible?
Indonesia is home to one of the world’s most iconic national library buildings.
However, the true value of a library isn’t measured by its height or beauty, but by how many people it can reach.
Amid the ongoing debate over adding or cutting the budget, the question is, “Should literacy be one of the first things we cut during difficult times?”
