Photo gallery: Indonesian woman promotes reading to village
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This picture taken on Feb 2, 2012, shows an Indonesian woman, Ms Kiswanti, speaking during an interview with AFP at her library in Pemagarsari village near Bogor. Ms Kiswanti went to great lengths to get people to read in Indonesia, a nation addicted to social media but with a lacklustre interest in books. -- PHOTO: AFP
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This picture taken on Feb 2, 2012, shows a young Indonesian girl carrying a book at a library run by Ms Kiswanti, in Pemagarsari village near Bogor. Ms Kiswanti went to great lengths to get people to read in Indonesia, a nation addicted to social media but with a lacklustre interest in books. -- PHOTO: AFP
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This picture taken on Feb 2, 2012, shows a young Indonesian girl looking at a book at a library run by Ms Kiswanti, in Pemagarsari village near Bogor. Ms Kiswanti went to great lengths to get people to read in Indonesia, a nation addicted to social media but with a lacklustre interest in books. -- PHOTO: AFP
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This picture taken on Feb 2, 2012, shows children reading books at a library run by Ms Kiswanti, in Pemagarsari village near Bogor. Ms Kiswanti went to great lengths to get people to read in Indonesia, a nation addicted to social media but with a lacklustre interest in books. -- PHOTO: AFP
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This picture taken on Feb 2, 2012, shows Ms Kiswanti (left), teaching children on the first floor of her library in Pemagarsari village near Bogor. Ms Kiswanti went to great lengths to get people to read in Indonesia, a nation addicted to social media but with a lacklustre interest in books. -- PHOTO: AFP
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This picture taken on Feb 2, 2012, shows a young Indonesian girl looking at a book at a library run by Ms Kiswanti, in Pemagarsari village near Bogor. Ms Kiswanti went to great lengths to get people to read in Indonesia, a nation addicted to social media but with a lacklustre interest in books. -- PHOTO: AFP
This picture taken on Feb 2, 2012, shows an Indonesian woman, Ms Kiswanti, speaking during an interview with AFP at her library in Pemagarsari village near Bogor. Ms Kiswanti went to great lengths to get people to read in Indonesia, a nation addicted to social media but with a lacklustre interest in books. -- PHOTO: AFP
This picture taken on Feb 2, 2012, shows a young Indonesian girl carrying a book at a library run by Ms Kiswanti, in Pemagarsari village near Bogor. Ms Kiswanti went to great lengths to get people to read in Indonesia, a nation addicted to social media but with a lacklustre interest in books. -- PHOTO: AFP
This picture taken on Feb 2, 2012, shows a young Indonesian girl looking at a book at a library run by Ms Kiswanti, in Pemagarsari village near Bogor. Ms Kiswanti went to great lengths to get people to read in Indonesia, a nation addicted to social media but with a lacklustre interest in books. -- PHOTO: AFP
This picture taken on Feb 2, 2012, shows children reading books at a library run by Ms Kiswanti, in Pemagarsari village near Bogor. Ms Kiswanti went to great lengths to get people to read in Indonesia, a nation addicted to social media but with a lacklustre interest in books. -- PHOTO: AFP
This picture taken on Feb 2, 2012, shows Ms Kiswanti (left), teaching children on the first floor of her library in Pemagarsari village near Bogor. Ms Kiswanti went to great lengths to get people to read in Indonesia, a nation addicted to social media but with a lacklustre interest in books. -- PHOTO: AFP
This picture taken on Feb 2, 2012, shows a young Indonesian girl looking at a book at a library run by Ms Kiswanti, in Pemagarsari village near Bogor. Ms Kiswanti went to great lengths to get people to read in Indonesia, a nation addicted to social media but with a lacklustre interest in books. -- PHOTO: AFP
Ms Kiswanti went to great lengths to get people to read in Indonesia, a nation addicted to social media but with a lacklustre interest in books.
For six years, as she cycled on bumpy village mud tracks in western Java as a door-to-door herbal medicine vendor, Ms Kiswanti would carry a stack of books on the back of her bike to lend to children. Her humble efforts have snowballed and her modest village is now home to a library, a rare sight even in Indonesia’s biggest cities.
