A complete and comfortable library is an essential facility which an educational institution should have to support an educational process. Head of Library of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) Lasa H.S., M.Si. stated that all Aisyah and Muhammadiyah-Affiliated Higher Education institutions (PTMA) are now starting to show fervor to increase quality of their libraries.

“Alhamdullillah, some PTMAs have begun to improve their quality, quantity, and facility of their libraries. First, we have already formed Regional Coordinators (Korwil) for library management throughout Indonesia. Second, PTMAs are now commenced to gain a national accreditation. So far, there are about 11 A-accredited and 3 B-accredited libraries owned by PTMAs. Third, we urge librarians of PTMA to actively contribute to every library organization and community,” informed Lasa in an interview after a Workshop on Library Management and Institution Repository Management of PTMA, conducted by librarians of UMY on Thursday (21/1).

At the workshop attended by dozens of librarians from various Muhammadiyah universities, Lasa mentioned several aspects to improve to achieve the accreditation. “Library management should refer to national standards. High improvement and endeavor will direct to a good result. The standards affect many components such as quality and the number of librarians, management, and collection completeness. A good library is one which can persuade students and lecturers to access international journals routinely.”

Lasa also encouraged all PTMAs in Indonesia to establish “Muhammdiyah Corner” which contains works of Muhammadiyah figures and provides books of Muhammadiyah figures’ thoughts.

Lasa continued, “I hope in future this small part of library will be established in every PTMA. People can start learning thoughts from Muhammadiyah figures. UMY has already founded Muhammadiyah Corner in its library and we do expect that this innovation can be followed by other Muhammadiyah intitutions,” he emphasized.

In accordance with goals of UMY, the university aspires to become a center for references in national and international levels. UMY Library possesses a 2032 vision to become a leading library in technology-based Islamic and Muhammadiyah information services as demands of this era.