They gather, they read quietly, they leave: Indonesia’s silent book club aims to encourage reading

JAKARTA – With the sun beating down on their heads, more than 50 people gathered at the Martha Tiahahu Literacy Park in south Jakarta at 3pm on June 18 to read for an hour.

Some of them sat on the benches located throughout the park, some sat cross-legged on the ground or grass. None of them said anything for 60 minutes.

No, this was not a flash mob or a marketing stunt. It was the latest Baca Bareng (Reading Together) gathering, organised by the Indonesian Silent Book Club.

Since August 2019, a Baca Bareng event has been organised every month for people in the city to gather for an hour to read their own books quietly.

This is not a book club meeting. There are no discussions about the books – participants get together simply to be among others who share their love of reading.

Attendees are spared awkward icebreakers, compulsory pleasantries and forced interactions. After they pose for a group photo at the end of the session, participants are free to chat with one another – but only if they wish to.

“People like it because there is no need to talk, no need for any discussion. Not everyone likes to introduce themselves in a big crowd and some people are too shy or introverted.

“With this club they can still enjoy reading with others without being afraid about having to talk,” said Ms Hestia Istivianie, founder of the Indonesian Silent Book Club.

It is the archipelago’s chapter of the global Silent Book Club, a global quiet reading movement started in 2012 in the United States that has more than 300 chapters around the world, including in countries like Australia, Germany, Japan, India and South Africa.

Countries in the region that have chapters include Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. Multiple chapters can be created in a country, and Singapore alone has two, according to the club’s website.

On its website, the club states that its members “gather in person and online to read together in quiet camaraderie”.

Ms Hestia, a 30-year-old content creator, was inspired to start the club four years ago after her younger sister, then 15, complained to her that she was being bullied for enjoying reading.

“She was in high school then, and some of her peers would mock her because she did not want to hang out (with them) during her lunch break. Why do people want to make fun of others who just want to enjoy their time reading?” she said.

Ms Hestia, herself an avid reader who runs an Instagram page dedicated to the books she reads, found out about the movement from social media and got in touch with its team to register a chapter in Indonesia.

The first session was held at a Starbucks outlet in Menteng in Central Jakarta – and 10 people attended.

When asked if she was afraid that no one would come read with her that first time, Ms Hestia said that she was not. “I have never been afraid that no one will show up,” she added.

Attendance for the sessions averages about 30 people each month, with a mix of new faces as well as regulars.

Participants are free to enjoy a book in whatever format they prefer, be it reading a physical hard copy or an e-book, or even listening to an audiobook.

Baca Bareng sessions are usually held on Sunday mornings, at public parks as well as cafes, with the aim of helping people unwind during the weekend.

What drives her to faithfully organise these sessions every month, Ms Hestia said, is the desire to encourage other Indonesians to read, especially at a time when reading has taken a back seat to mobile phones, the Internet and other digital distractions.

In 2019, a survey conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), as part of the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), ranked Indonesia 62nd out of 70 countries in terms of literacy levels.

A separate 2016 study by the Central Connecticut State University in the US dubbed the World’s Most Literate Nation ranked the archipelago 60th out of 61 countries in terms of reading interest, below Thailand in 59th and above only Botswana.

But there are many in Indonesia who love reading and there are many others who could be enticed into picking up books too, said Ms Hestia.

Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, when public gatherings were not allowed in Indonesia and people had to observe social distancing, the sessions continued – via video-conferencing platform Zoom.

Ms Hestia said that it was initially strange to have a group of people reading on a Zoom call with their cameras turned on and microphones muted.

But she received positive feedback from participants who told her that they enjoyed seeing other people read together with them, so she continued hosting Baca Bareng sessions throughout the pandemic.

In May 2022, she organised in-person gatherings once more.

Her dream for Baca Bareng is to have others take a page out of her book and spread the movement she has started to other parts of Indonesia, so that more people can be inspired to read.

“I hope people can copy these sessions and start their own silent reading clubs outside Jakarta.

“A club where people read quietly with one another can be as cool as any other club out there, and I hope more can see it that way,” she said.