How Indonesian Youth Are Rediscovering the Joy of Reading Together

Indonesia has never lacked people who are passionate about reading books. The interest of young people in literacy is always growing. Nowadays, we can see young people filling public spaces like parks to read books. They make arrangements to gather, create quiet reading sessions, and set up stalls for sharing sessions. They come dressed neatly and thoughtfully for a “literacy picnic” on the weekends.

The Rise of Book Communities Amongst Youth

One such community is the ‘Jakarta Book Party,’ which advocates for the concept of ‘Reading While Picnicking,’ as stated in its Instagram bio. Alongside the Jakarta Book Party, there’s another community that emerged in 2023 with a similar approach called Book Clan in Jakarta. Book Clan organizes thematic activities such as ‘Pikread’ (Literacy Picnic), ‘Teliti’ (Exploring Literacy at Book Markets), ‘Tulalit’ (Literary Adventures), and ‘Cakuta’ (Reading Books on Trains).

“We want to show young people that public spaces, like parks, can be used for reading books. It’s not just about picnicking,” said Lara, a member of the Book Clan committee. The book community now boasts 10 thousand followers on Instagram. As of now, Book Clan has 900 members and is present in several cities, including Cirebon, Lombok, Jember, Surabaya, and Purwakarta.

Meanwhile, the Jakarta Book Party book community has also seen a significant increase in followers over the past two months and is massively popular among young people. In fact, several other ‘book party’ have emerged in 27 regions across Indonesia. These include Bandung Book Party, Bogor Book Party, Bali Book Party, and others.

Even Bogor Book Party now has 400 members in its group. “Bogor Book Party started on January 14, 2024. Initially, it was because we met friends from Bogor at the Jakarta Book Party held in Jakarta,” said Fatimah, a regional organizer of Bogor Book Party.