Xanana Gusmão Reading Room

 

The Reading Room is housed in an historic building constructed during the 19th century by a Portuguese Plantation Company 

 

The Xanana Gusmão Reading Room was the first public library to operate in East Timor after the end of Indonesian occupation. Founded by First Lady, Kirsty Sword Gusmão , on 27 June 2000, the Reading Room was established to provide library and reference services to the Dili community and especially to young people whose study was interrupted or terminated by political events beyond their control.

It also serves to display and share with the community the many awards and presentations made to East Timor through Xanana Gusmão as one of East Timor’s principal internationally recognized representatives and president of CNRT (National Council of East Timorese Resistance). The Reading Room is a registered not-for-profit Non Government Organisation.

The founding of the Xanana Gusmão Reading Room was made possible with the help of young people from cultural group Le Ziaval who volunteered their time to reconstruct the premises (two of the group are now paid employees of the Reading Room), the assistance of an Australian Volunteers International (AVI) volunteer employed to establish the organization, and the donation of funds and in-kind support from local and international organizations.

The Reading Room’s stated mission is to provide a space where people can access information to educate themselves and expand their knowledge about East Timor’s history, culture and development in order to:

• Strengthen the Timorese people’s sense of identity;
• Increase awareness of East Timor’s struggle for independence;
• Empower Timorese people in making informed decisions about their own and the nation’s future development.

The Xanana Gusmão Reading Room recognizes the importance of and strongly supports the development of public library services to inform and educate all Timorese people. It appreciates the valuable role libraries play in the development of communities around the world in providing safe public spaces and access to lifelong learning opportunities.

The Xanana Gusmão Reading Room plans for and provides the following services:

Library Collection

A multilingual collection of resources including non-fiction, fiction, magazines, newspapers, children’s and audiovisual materials (3,000 items). Languages include Tetun and Portuguese ( East Timor’s official languages) as well as English and Bahasa Indonesian. The collection is available for use on the library premises and the majority of items can also be borrowed. Membership is required for borrowing from the collection and is open to all.

East Timor Collection

This is a nationally significant special collection of resources about East Timor including books, developmental reports and objects of historical interest (number of items included in library collection figure above). In addition there is a large collection of videos about the struggle for independence available for viewing on the premises. Given the significance of the collection and the unique and rare nature of the material only one item at a time may be borrowed but it is available for use by all in the Reading Room.

The collection’s significance is increased by the absence at this stage in the nation’s development of a National Library and Archive. The Reading Room quickly identified the need to collect this material in the interests of retaining and promoting historical information, cultural heritage and pride. The decision to develop a special collection of information about East Timor’s history, culture and development was based on the following criteria:

• It is crucial to East Timor’s people that they are given the opportunity to tell their version of history and impart what knowledge remains about their culture before it is lost.

• This is the first time in 474 years that the people of East Timor have the opportunity to govern themselves. To operate as a democratic society it is vital that people can access information about the nation’s historical and current situation as well as future development.

• It is difficult to obtain information about the many activities, programs and events occurring in the present in East Timor. The Xanana Gusmão Reading Room offers a central, well known, easily accessible public space where organizations can promote their activities and inform the community about their projects and activities.

• Many tourists and internationals working in East Timor visit the Xanana Gusmão Reading Room seeking resources to educate themselves about the historical and current situation in East Timor.

Xanana Gusmão Collection

A comprehensive collection of memorabilia including international awards, gifts and presentations, paintings and photos of Xanana Gusmão (200 items) is on permanent display. The purpose is to share the collection with the East Timor community in recognition of their contribution to and their many sacrifices in the struggle for independence. International visitors regularly view the collection.

Video Collection and Viewing Area

An extensive collection of videorecordings (100 items) about East Timor can be viewed in the Video Viewing Area. This is a popular part of the service with videos viewed by up to 12 people, on average five out of the eight hours the Reading Room is open each day. This service is predominantly used by young people including children and international tourists and workers. A digitization program currently in planning will see much of the audio-visual collection preserved in digital formats to ensure its longevity and long term accessibility.

Information Technology hub comprising the following:

• Word processing and other productivity software computers

Four word processing computers are available for community use. All four computers are occupied every hour the Reading Room is open. It is a very popular and much needed service. It is used heavily by university students to complete assignments and also by young people interested in learning how to use a computer and software programs for recreational use or with a view to using the technology to assist them in finding future employment.

Other software packages available and used on these computers include Excel, PowerPoint, Access and FrontPage. Introductory training is provided by staff on a one to one basis for new users. It is an important service providing an opportunity to introduce information technology and a basic introduction to computers to the community. In addition the use of Word and Excel is developing skills in literacy and numeracy as well as information and computer literacy.

• Internet Café

Four Internet computers are available for use. Main users at present are international workers and visitors. Internet facilities are used for email access as well as information and research purposes. Staff are currently building their skills in using Internet explorer and various search engines in order to pass on those skills to the East Timor community.

Word processing and internet computers are being networked to provide multipurpose functionality to all information technology services within the next six to twelve months.

Film nights

In conjunction with the media organization Internews , the Xanana Gusmão Reading Room has been hosting free monthly film nights which involve the showing of a film/s and facilitating subsequent discussion. These events are open to the public and are well attended by members of the media as well as young people. This service is important and provides a recreational as well as educational service. There is no movie theatre in all of East Timor and few people have access to television and associated viewing equipment in their homes.

Meeting space

The Reading Room has a newly renovated outdoor undercover meeting space which is offered free of charge to local NGOs and community groups to hold meetings, conferences or workshops. It is a large and comfortable space that is also used for special activities and educational programs. The Reading Room’s regular staff meetings are held in this space.

Bookshop

There are very few bookshops in East Timor. This specialist bookshop sells books about East Timor, Tetun, Indonesian and Portuguese language materials and locally produced souvenirs to the tourist market. Income generated from the sales helps cover the costs of running the Xanana Gusmão Reading Room. All new information resources sold in the bookshop are also included in the collection and are available for reading on site or borrowing.

Book Exchange

Users of the exchange are able to access swap titles they have read for others in the book exchange collection. The majority of titles are fiction.

Support for the Library Association of East Timor

The Xanana Gusmão Reading Room has played an active role in the establishment of the Asosiasaun Biblioteka no Informasaun Timor-Leste (ABITL), East Timor’s first ever Library Association, recognizing the value of a collaborative network of libraries. The Association’s inaugural meeting was held on 17 July 2004. To date the Xanana Gusmão Reading Room has been the sole funder of this newly established network covering all costs associated with member meetings and offering the free use of a room located on the premises to house the Association’s administration office.

Leadership and training for staff from other library services

The Reading Room is a recognized leader in the provision of library and information technology services in East Timor. Staff from other libraries regularly visit and/or seek advice from the Reading Room and most recently two volunteers from Lolotoe (a very remote community in the Bobonaro district) visited for work experience and library management training giving them the necessary skills and confidence required to establish their own public library.

Due to the Reading Room’s staff skills, they recently coordinated acquisition of new books on behalf of 5 other libraries as a result of receiving money ($31,000) donated by the Library Books For East Timor Trivia Night Group in Melbourne.

Sydney City Council has also recognized the potential of the Xanana Gusmao Reading Room by committing $100,000 over the next 5 years to enable the Reading Room to meet its operational costs and to support the newly formed Library Association. Congratulations to the Sydney City Council for their generosity of spirit and for directing funds to appropriate services and programs meeting the current and future learning needs of the Timorese.

The Reading Room and its achievements are extraordinary. In a very short amount of time and with limited resources it has established itself as a leader of library services in East Timor. It is my opinion that the Reading Room has the potential, with additional resources, to expand its services and programs and in fact has the foundations of a National Library for East Timor within its walls.

The commitment to service to the community, to building collections of national significance, to providing access to information technology services, a lending collection with a multilingual focus, and a range of community programs and partnerships is evidence that they are uniquely positioned and ready to take on a broader role.

 

Address: Rua Belamino Lobo 1 Lecederie P.O. Box 3 , Dili

Telephone: +6703313053 / +6707245001

Library type: Public Library

Physical area: 400 m2

Manager/Contact person/s: Dudu da Cunha & Nicole Wiseman

Hours open: Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm Saturday 9am to 3pm

Funding: Sydney City Council has recently agreed to provide operational funding for 5 years to 2009 totaling $100,000. Revenue from Bookshop and Internet café. International fundraising efforts eg Library books for East Timor Trivia Night, Melbourne. AUSAID small grants scheme eg for recent purchase of Athena LMS software and server, networking of personal computers. Donations and in kind support.

Organisation type / Organisational and/or Departmental relationships Founded by Kirsty Sword Gusmao Independent Non-Government Organisation (NGO) Board of Management.

Staffing Levels / Qualifications / Experience 1 Australian Volunteers International (AVI) volunteer with Public and State Library experience in Victoria, Australia, a two year assignment which began in May 2003. Aim of AVI placement is skills transfer and further development of the service. It is envisaged that extension of this position or replacement with another volunteer at the end of the contractual period will occur. 6 fulltime East Timorese staff (including security guard and cleaner). Two of the four staff members with responsibility for the Reading Room have worked for the organisation since the beginning, firstly as volunteers involved in rebuilding the premises, and currently as paid staff members. Co-Manager has had some library training in Malaysia. Predominantly “on the job” training for staff.

User information Mostly East Timorese secondary and tertiary students with increasingly more females joining. Tourists, international students and workers looking for information about East Timor and/or recreational reading.

Collections 3,000 items in English, Tetun, Indonesian and Portuguese. Subject areas include East Timor, geography, history, science, literature. English language fiction. Video collection (100) consisting of documentaries about East Timor. Significant collection of realia – Xanana Gusmao’s awards, presentation certificates, gifts from other nations and dignitaries.(200 items) Indonesian textbooks Catalogued according to DDC & LCSH on Athena software. Basic catalogue records at this stage. Acquisitions project has just begun. Most items acquired by donation from Australian public libraries, Institute de Camoes, The National Archives in Jakarta and NGOs. Collection usage statistics not available at this stage.

Lending policies 3 books may be borrowed for 2 weeks.

Information Technology Internet café comprising 4 personal computers 4 word processing computers 5 other computers (staff use) Athena Library Management Software Computers are networked Microsoft office suite software in use Most computers are new to 3 years old 1 staff member is the Information Technology specialist with further training to occur

Any additional programs? Bookshop housed in the Reading Room sells Tetun language manuals, books about East Timor (in English, Indonesian and Tetun), postcards, maps and souvenirs. Book exchange where users can swap or buy second hand novels. Plans for further programs to attract other groups inc. Oral History Project, Writers Workshops, Poetry readings, Educational tours of the Reading Room, space for meetings, discussion and debate.

Fees and charges $1 membership for East Timorese residents $10 membership for visitors (malai) Overdue books fine $1 per day Internet usage charge 10c per minute ($6 per hour) 25c per page printing

Hopes, desires, wishes, future directions. More collaboration between libraries, other information services, ngos and organisations Development of National and Public Library System included on government’s agenda. Increased publishing activity in Tetun. Funding for libraries across East Timor.