Koko Widayatmoko, a 1963 graduate of Faculty of Engineering becomes one of Sahabat UGM (Friends of UGM) through his contribution in giving his personal collection of book. Sahabat UGM Program is one of the Sub-Directorate of Alumni Relations UGM programs to provide greater opportunities for alumni and partners of UGM who want to contribute to the university development. “Alumni and partners who want to contribute to UGM is now facilitated in the Sahabat UGM Program. Not only money, but also could be in the form of training and services,” said Dr. Sulistyowati, Head of Sub-Directorate of Alumni Relations UGM in the handover of Koko Widayatmoko’s book collection to UGM, Monday (19/12) at the UGM Central Library.
The books provided by Koko are a personal collection of nearly 3,000 books Javanese language and literature. More than 500 of the books are dealing with his field of study in UGM. “Don’t say I’m giving the books. I’m only returning them because I could be like this also because of UGM,” said the Indonesian construction expert who was trusted to do the I Gusti Ngurah Rai Bali airport runway project.
His love for Javanese language and literature led his to have a collection of various ancient and rare books which were contested by various parties and institutions. “Many are chasing me to get this personal book collection, but because of my love for UGM I choose to give them to this beloved campus,” said Koko.
The books handover event which was started from 13:00 Western Indonesian Time (WIB) was also attended by the management team from both Central and Faculty of Cultural Sciences Libraries for further discussion about the arrangement of Koko’s book collection. As the head of UGM Central Library, Dra. Nawang Purwanti, M.Lib. also handed over a token of appreciation for Koko’s contribution.
Koko also expressed his worry over international awards given to foreigners for their success to translate various Javanese books. “Hopefully, these books that I return can be useful and I also advised the university to be able to find books that had been banned in Indonesia in the Dutch occupation era. I think we still need a lot of books to be studied and translated especially Javanese book, because those book might be able to make Indonesia a country and nation that is more developed and prosperous,” said Koko in the event. [Eva]