Quo Vadis Materials Procurement Reader?

By the facts taken from this site Romi Febriyanto Saputro

This paper has been published in the Daily Post Solo, 3 February 2007

Procurement of materials libraries are important icons in the library. Procurement of library materials into the mirror not a good library. A good library should be supported by an adequate number of collections both in terms of the diversity of titles and the number of copies.
Procurement of library materials must be oriented on the user's library. Sound library users should be heard more than personal ego management of the library. The synergy between the users and managers of the library will determine the success or not of a material library.
In selecting the materials library, the library should consider the level of topicality, the existence of new ideas, and the depth of the content / discussion of a book. Libraries must select books that can provide enlightenment of life for readers.
The urgency of the procurement of library materials for a library is to maintain the freshness of the material collection library. This is important to maintain and increase interest in reading people.
Swimming like fish, if you have never experienced the addition of water will become cloudy. Similarly, with a library. If you never make a purchase of a new library that will make the user bored with the existing collection.
The more often and more and more libraries in the procurement of materials will create more library users by the disaster. In the library did not update the collection will be abandoned by users.
Reality
Description above shows the importance of library materials for a library. Ironically, the reality says another. There are several phenomena that make the procurement of library materials is not healthy.
First, the project mentality. Cause of the project orientation of library materials shift from satisfying the needs of library users to be satisfying the desires of "those projects".
All efforts are taken in order to benefit the most. Shortcut is appropriate. When the start of activities in the brain those projects is how to get discounts as much as possible.
To obtain large discounts are usually those projects will choose books that minimal variations in the maximum copies of the title. One title could reach five to ten copies. In addition, the minimal variations in the publisher. If the book comes from only one publisher, then the benefits will be greater.
Of the project also cause the selection process library materials to be neglected. Quite a lot of public libraries and schools and universities so that only "Mother bongkokan" with the books presented by publishers and book distributors. They are too lazy to prepare thousands of titles from different publishers.
HaI this is a form of pathological bureaucracy that overrides the world's libraries. Model of books that will only lead to "fool the library."
Second, the imbalance between the aspects of sociology and psychology. Procurement of materials libraries should be a good addition to considering aspects of sociology readers also consider the psychological aspects of the readers.
Aspects of sociology readers include the conditions of the family, education, type of job, social status and living readers. While the psychological aspects include the taste of readers and readers age readers. Both these aspects can not be separated, because separate a whole unit (integral).
Elementary school library, for example, the social environment dominated by children aged 7 - 13 years old, according to the aspects of sociology must be supported with library books that support learning in the classroom. For the books that are featured books in science and technology.
However, from the psychological aspects of the procurement of library materials to the school library that contains only basic books of science and technology will be felt flat. Students are already burdened with various serious lessons in the classroom need a little relaxation.
Stages for the relaxation of the need books that they can entertain people. Books about popular fiction, religion, and popular psychology can fill this space serve as the basic sense of the school library. Divers think this role is to stimulate interest and to grow again read the students who have been buried various television spectacle.
The balance of sociology and psychological aspects of this need to be adjusted to the age of the students. For primary schools, libraries, library collections basic recommended by experts is 70 percent fiction and 30 percent of non-fiction. Non-fiction books also cultivated selected books that are designed with a format that is friendly with children.
Third, procurement of the long-winded. Currently, procurement of goods and services are set by government decree No. 80 of 2003, enhanced with the Education Tax 32 2005.
Goals decree is quite good, namely that the procurement of goods and services the government can be implemented effectively and efficiently with the principles of healthy competition, transparent, open, and fair treatment for all parties, so the results can be accountable both in terms of physical, financial, and the benefits for the smoothness of the government work and community service.
However, if applied in the procurement of library materials pose little distortion. Especially if the literature concerning the procurement of materials with a value of more than Rp 50.000.000, 00, which must be implemented with the auction.
Auction procedures are very long-winded, so it takes a long time. Start from the pre / post-qualification, the document pre / post-qualification, pengambalan bidding documents, explanations (aanwijzing), importation documents, to determine the winner of an auction takes at least three months.
Procurement of the long-winded this cause timeliness library materials decreased slightly. Because the title of the libraries organized in the early years, to new users at the end of the fiscal year.
In addition, if in the middle of the year there are new books published, the library experienced difficulties to buy them. This is because the procurement of library materials must be in one activity. Can not be separated, separate follow the latest developments perbukuan world.
As a result, access to library users to enjoy a new book published should be delayed until the next budget year.
To overcome this problem, the government should publish a special regulations on procurement of library materials that can maintain the level of topicality of the libraries without ignoring the financial liability of clean and transparent. So that the language between the library and financial language can be met in one point.