Over the past five years, the use of digital books has become more prevalent than that of physical books. However, book enthusiasts remain widespread in society despite the growing use of e-books. National Book Day, observed every May 17, serves as a momentum to strengthen reading interest among Indonesians and reinforce the country’s literary ecosystem.
Head of the UGM Library and Archives, Arif Surachman, said that the essence of a book lies in its content rather than its medium.
“Not everyone feels comfortable reading through digital screens, especially when using only a mobile phone. At the library, we will always strive to balance students’ needs by providing both physical and digital collections,” he said on Tuesday (May. 19).
He explained that the UGM Central Library (UGM Library) continues to facilitate access to both physical and digital books. Currently, the library places greater emphasis on digital books, while maintaining physical collections. The physical book collections cover various academic disciplines and enrichment materials.
“Students can also propose book acquisitions to expand the library’s collection,” he explained.
Arif further noted that, to broaden access to the scientific works of lecturers and students, the library provides the repository.ugm.ac.id platform. The platform is intended to facilitate access to academic works for both students and the public. However, document accessibility is adjusted according to copyright regulations set by the authors.
“For students’ final papers, we currently do not provide full public access unless there is a specific request. However, for papers or scientific articles, we have already facilitated access through the institutional repository,” he explained.
In addition to National Book Day, May 18 is commemorated as National Archives Day. As part of UGM’s archival system, the library is also committed to managing and preserving the university’s historical archives, including records of UGM’s establishment, the leadership history of Professor Sardjito, and documentation of student movements. This commitment is realized through the use of the Static Archival Information System (SIKS) and the digitization of old documents to improve accessibility.
“We are currently developing a new system that is expected to make information more accessible to the public in the future,” said Arif.
To ensure the security of these archives, the library continues to strengthen its information technology infrastructure, including the provision of a dedicated data storage system based on Network Attached Storage (NAS) coordinated with the Directorate of Information Technology (DTI). Meanwhile, conventional documents are centrally managed at the Archive Depot to ensure the preservation and durability of physical records, ranging from printed manuscripts to analog media.
“Security remains a shared challenge for all of us. Therefore, we continue to strengthen our information technology infrastructure,” Arif said.
Arif emphasized that both the government and universities must establish mandatory policies to ensure that every institution manages archives properly and professionally. He also expressed hope that, in the future, every government institution and higher education institution would have standardized archival management personnel. The implementation should be integrated from the university’s central administration down to the faculties and study programs.
As of 2025, the UGM Library’s printed collections, consisting of books and scientific works, had reached 827,506 copies, including 534,865 printed collections and 261,364 students’ final works. Meanwhile, its electronic or digital collections, sourced from both subscriptions and institutional ownership, include 39,000 e-journal titles, 62,076 e-book titles, 196,000 e-datasheets, 44,212 e-company profile records, and 30,705 e-proceedings titles.
Author: Jesi
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Post-editor: Jasmine Ferdian
Photo: UGM Public Relations Documentation