Tasa Nugraza Barley

Owens with students in Sidoarjo. (Photo courtesy of The World Is Just a Book Away)

Bringing Indonesia Hope, One Book at a Time

Books are windows to the world, goes an old Indonesian saying. Over the years, this has been used to remind people, especially children, of the importance of reading.

American James J. Owens couldn’t agree with the saying more. The assistant professor of clinical management communication at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business Center for Management in Los Angeles founded a nonprofit organization, The World Is Just a Book Away, in October 2008.

“The books were my windows to the world,” Owens said. “Throughout childhood, books were my best friends. Before I could read, my mother showed me pictures in books that lined the walls of our apartment and told me stories of faraway places. I continued to travel through books until I was old enough to travel in earnest. That early travel through reading led to my love of language, which led to my love of writing.”

According to the organization’s Web site, www.theworldisjustabookaway.com, it “is founded on the core belief that education breaks the cycle of poverty and promotes peace around the world” and “provides children with hope through books and education in our libraries and reading rooms, empowering them to change their own lives and the world at large.”

After conducting a very careful analysis, the organization decided to launch its first project in Sidoarjo, East Java. The organization was moved by the tragedy faced by the people of Sidoarjo as a result of the mudflow disaster.

Hot mud first began flowing from a crack near an exploratory gas well operated by oil and gas company PT Lapindo Brantas on May 29, 2006. The mud submerged houses, factories and hundreds of hectares of rice fields before being contained by a series of massive earthen embankments.

Much of the infrastructure in the area was destroyed or disrupted by the mud.

This tragedy has had a hugely negative impact on the quality of education in Sidoarjo. Many schools disappeared and those that survived became overcrowded. In addition, students had to make do without schoolbooks.

In 2009, The World Is Just a Book Away built 21 school libraries in Sidoarjo and one mobile library that students have access to. The organization also has one library in Bali, which was established in cooperation with a hotel chain.

With an initial goal of opening 14 libraries in 2008, Owens said he was grateful for the support the project has received. He said he would not have thought it possible to open 22 libraries.

“When we launched last October [2008], we thought it would be a stretch to launch 14 libraries in Sidoarjo in 2009,” he said.

The World Is a Book Away has attracted a long list of people to its cause and Owens has honored some of the project’s early believers by naming libraries after them, including Queen Noor Al-Hussein of Jordan and Muhammad Yusuf, the founder of Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank.

Through its libraries, The World Is Just a Book Away has given more than 10,000 children in 50 schools in Sidoarjo access to more than 20,000 books. The books are mostly in Bahasa Indonesia, with some in English.

Owens encourages people to visit the group’s Web site to see the photos of its projects. He explained that approximately $2,500 builds an entire library for hundreds of children, with a book costing about $1. “Every donation, no matter how small, really does help us help the children,” Owens said.

He added that the response to the project has been overwhelming, more than anything he had hoped for.

The feeling, he said, is indescribable. “How can one express the pure joy on the face of a child?”

He added that he’s always touched by the smiles he sees on the children’s faces as they read books on everything from space exploration to the adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

“I know lots of stuff that I didn’t know before and I have read many books,” said Lukiman, a student in Sidoarjo. “I enjoy staying at the library because I enjoy reading books, such as the atlas and books about science and civics. The library gives me more knowledge and much comfort.”

“With this library, I can have a better understanding of things,” said Ninik, another student in Sidoarjo.

“Now I am proud. I can read whatever book I like because there are so many different books. I have read the invention series. Previously, I didn’t know who invented what and where the inventions took place. After reading those books, I know.”

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