This time though, I am about to share my experience being with others literacy advocates, writers and enthusiasts all around East-Java.

It has been quite a few years and I still enjoy reading through hive.blog. Call me old-fashioned but there’s something about its readable font and line spacing that don’t strain my eyes reading long-form content all over HIVE. While it is my personal opinion, I read and comment more whenever I use hive.blog than any other interface out there . But this post isn’t really about that.

Exactly last week, I attended a literacy summit, one of its kind in East-Java, Indonesia. There are many chapters of this literacy summit but the one in East-Java was the first for the chapter at Kediri as the host city. I also talked about the mini excursion that was included in the summit here Kediri, East Java Old Town Streets and the Ancient Setono Gedong Heritage Site.

This time though, I am about to share my experience being with others literacy advocates, writers and enthusiasts all around East-Java.

Some of the people I met are published authors and have published numerous works on stories, comics and various genres. At the same time, some of them also owned a local publishing house. What I noticed is that a lot of them are so humble and it was really nice to get to know the local publishing scene.

Though I felt like an outsider in that place, they warmly welcomed me and I learned many things including the passion of these people to better the education in Indonesia. Literacy isn’t always about reading and it goes beyond that.

During the event, not only were we listening to speeches, we also saw a folk dance from Banyuwangi which was so enchanting. These are the dancers and the processes before they even begin to dance.

When I was there, I learned that literacy goes beyond just reading. It’s also preserving the culture and history of a civilization or community.

The souvenirs I got there include a bookmark and a pin. I wanted to bring some but due to the timing and my job that requires me to move a lot, I didn’t get the chance to actually order some for the event. Next year, if I have the chance to attend it, I would actually bring some more souvenirs from my community library.

But during the events, people were also allowed to showcase their goods. I got 2 books from one of the stalls that talks about HR as well as middle class history in Indonesia. Since now, I am trying to run a business, knowing a good management practice will help me. I don’t come from a management background but these things help.

These days rather than a car, there’s an electric moving library that was being showcased too. It’s interesting to have this moving library which could help give access to places where it’s not possible to have a physical library. There are also events where this type of booth helps, especially when most of the books cater to children and young adults who often get bored waiting for their parents.

Last but not least, it was a chance for me to network and get to know the local people in the publishing and literacy industry. Some of them also come from various backgrounds including business owners and lecturers. And in the end, I had a great time at the place and learned many new things as well from various inspiring people I met during the event.

	𝘊𝘦𝘮𝘺 (𝘰𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘤) 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝖼𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗏𝖾 𝗀𝖾𝗇𝖾𝗋𝖺𝗅𝗂𝗌𝗍 & 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘳, 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵, 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺, 𝘱𝘰𝘱 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺; 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘏𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘴.