Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, officially inaugurated Litbeat Festival 2019 (Literaction Festival) at the National Library of Indonesia, Central Jakarta, on Monday (9/2).

Endeavor to promote literacy in Indonesia should begin seriously from an early age 

He appreciated the festival as a form of contribution for all components to grow the literacy ecosystem in Jakarta.

"Endeavor to promote literacy in Indonesia should begin seriously from an early age and need the involvement of all components, and the ecosystem becomes basic as it needs the involvement of all components," he expressed, as quoted by Jakarta PPID press release.

Even he stressed that the Jakarta Provincial Government was ready to participate in growing the literacy ecosystem in the community, as the most important components to foster it is the government and the resources involved in it.

"If it could create new ideas, we would facilitate and be a partner in implementing ideas and breakthrough experiments in growing the literacy ecosystem," he explained.

Together with stakeholders, his party also already had activities with the same goal. Some of them were reading park in villages and book markets.

"This is very important. Which is why we cooperated with various parties to make reachable access for the community," he told.

National Book Committee Head, Laura Bangun Prinsloo who also serves as organizing committee chairwoman explained that various methods were needed to grow literacy according to the times.

"The development of digital and technology makes the content more valuable, as it needs various methods to transform content in books to be more interesting, such as a film from books of Dilan, Gundala, Bumi Manusia and so forth. So here we provide a platform for successful book actors to share experiences," she uttered.

As for the information, LitBeat is a shared space for creative people working in the world of books to learn from each other, exchange ideas and share experiences related to issues concerning the book ecosystem.

It is set to be held at the National Library of Indonesia in Central Jakarta from September 2-3.

It will feature local and international writers, editors, publishers, illustrators, comic artists, IP developers and designers who will act as speakers and moderators in workshops, panel discussions, seminars, talk shows, sharing sessions and performances.