KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 18 ― Longhouse residents of Nanga Ukom in Batang Ai, Sarawak now have access to over 5,000 books in a newly-established longhouse library.

The construction of the library was a joint effort by the Business Events Sarawak (BESarawak) and the village community who volunteered to design, construct and decorate the library from scratch.

The corporate social responsibility project was co-hosted by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), Borneo Convention Centre Kuching, the Librarians’ Association of Malaysia, Sarawak State Library and CPH Travel Agency.

The idea of the longhouse library was sparked when BESarawak chief executive officer Amelia Roziman visited the area and wondered why there were so many teenagers just loitering around.

A chat later with the longhouse chief guyu led to the development of a library to help nurture the children through reading.

Speaking to The Edge, Amelia said today’s library is tomorrow's school.

Thanks to the sheer commitment of the community villagers, a run-down multi-purpose hall was transformed into a presentable library for the community to use.

From designing and construction to painting and decoration words, the re-construction of the longhouse was done by volunteers from the community.

The renovation works were done by the end of 2020 but due to the movement restrictions and the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the official opening.

To fill up the library, BESarawak ran a book drive campaign over nine days which garnered over 7,500 books from as far as Australia.

The donated books included children, story and activity books, some of which were given to other libraries in the area with the help of Sarawak State Library.

The books were donated by the general public, ICCA Asia Pacific Regional Hub 2020 conference delegates, the general public, associations and corporate organisations.

The library is also equipped with stationeries to make it an active learning space where everyone can pick up some crayons and pencils and get creative.

According to BESarawak senior communications executive Rose Bruce, the idea of the library came about after they found out that rural children, especially from longhouse communities, have a tendency to drop out from school with many not even completing their secondary education.

"We decided to create a library and see what impact a library could have on this community.

"We hope that in five years’ time, we will see higher numbers of children remaining in the education system to pursue a diploma or higher education.”

According to Bruce, the library is now well-utilised and it attracts not only children but adults too.

"So other than hitting the primary objective of getting kids and teens to read and develop a love for books, we're helping adults to love it too.”