Program Rumah Baca Sebagai Upaya Meningkatkan Minat Literasi Anak di Dusun Masekan, Desa Wakah, Kecamatan Ngrambe

The Reading House Program as an Effort to Increase Children's Literacy Interest in Masekan Hamlet, Wakah Village, Ngrambe District

Abstract

Literacy skills are one of the main foundations in developing quality human resources from an early age. However, conditions in the field indicate that children's reading interest in Masekan Hamlet, Wakah Village, Ngrambe District, Ngawi Regency is still relatively low. This is exacerbated by the discovery that some children in grade 1 of elementary school (SD) cannot even read fluently. This condition is caused by various factors, including limited access to interesting reading materials, limited library facilities in the hamlet environment, and a lack of reading support outside of school hours. Based on these problems, this community service activity aims to foster reading interest and improve children's literacy skills through the establishment of the Rumah Baca program, which provides easy and free access to reading books in the hamlet environment. The program implementation method is carried out through several stages, including a community needs survey, procurement of bookshelves, and collection of suitable reading books through donations or self-funding, consisting of science books, general knowledge books, short stories, religious books, and novels. The entire book collection was then housed and managed at the At-Tin Mosque, a strategic location easily accessible to residents, especially children. In addition to providing access to reading materials, this activity also included reading assistance for children who were not yet fluent in reading, to support the achievement of comprehensive literacy goals. The results of the implementation of this activity demonstrated a high response and enthusiasm from children, from elementary school to junior high school (SMP), in participating in and utilizing the Reading House facilities. This enthusiasm was reflected in the consistent number of visits and the children's interest in the various book titles available. However, the program's implementation still faced several obstacles, including the limited number and variety of books available and the fact that some children were not yet fluent readers, requiring more intensive assistance. This activity is expected to be a sustainable initial step in building a culture of literacy in Masekan Hamlet and serve as a recommendation for future community service programs to expand the book collection and strengthen reading assistance programs for children