Jakarta has many public libraries and its core of literary infrastructure exists in every one of Jakarta’s municipalities. One of them is located at Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM), the city’s iconic art, cultural and science centre.
After it was relaunched in 2022, the TIM Library or Perpustakaan Jakarta Cikini has become not only a public library that provides an enormous book collection to be read, but also a public space that holds various literary events for broader collaboration. Designed by Andra Matin, Perpustakaan Jakarta Cikini has reopened to an excited crowd, flaunting warm and modern interiors alongside other interactive facilities where communities can gather, learn and grow together.
Perpustakaan Jakarta Cikini is a three-story public library set on the building’s fourth floor. Dominated in a warm tone of wood and concrete, the facilities in the library are increasingly being expanded, starting from both open and private reading rooms, discussion booths, a broadcast room for podcast sessions, a children’s area as well as an inclusive room where the visually impaired can access braille materials—all of which members of the library can freely reserve and access.
The Jakarta Library has a collection of more than 150,000 books and 4,395 archives at the HB Jassin Literary Documentation Center (PDS). The books are varied genres, consisting of general books, and children’s books, to collections about Jakarta and curated titles on art, literature and culture, according to the needs of the people.
There are stairs that tower to the sixth floor (which may already be visitors’ go-to photo spot), seamlessly integrated with reading tables and racks that display specialised collections. Each floor dedicates rooms for gatherings and activities to take place.
As shown from the number of people who immediately applied for the library membership, as well as those registering to check out the place (currently it’s a must before visiting), the takeaway is clear: many seemed to be hungry for a library of this scale and style. And while the buzz surrounding Perpustakaan Jakarta Cikini—and Taman Ismail Marzuki as a whole—has been inspiring, a sense of consideration should also follow.
Perpustakaan Jakarta operates every day from 9AM to 5PM. However, the reservation time limit to enter the library area is 4PM. The visitors quota is also limited to 300 people per session in each day.
