The National Library of Indonesia (hereafter NLI) was established in 1980. Its largest documentary heritage collection originates from the Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen (Batavia’s Society for Arts and Sciences), a colonial institution founded in 1779. This collection includes the most significant Indonesian manuscript collections, reflecting the antiquity and diversity of manuscript traditions in Indonesia. Moreover, this collection has profoundly influenced Indonesia’s history. In the post-independence era, the founding fathers, for example, chose the national slogan “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika”, meaning “unity in diversity”, derived from a 14th-century Javanese poem, Sutasoma, whose manuscript is housed at NLI. Since that time, activities for the preservation of manuscripts and other documentary heritage have primarily focused on the collections held at NLI.
The turning point of the National Library in the field of manuscript preservation and the expansion of access occurred with the enactment of Library Act No. 43 of 2007. This Act bestowed significant mandates upon NLI in managing manuscripts at a national scale. Through this Act, NLI is given the responsibility to manage documentary heritage in the form of manuscripts, while archives are under the purview of the National Archives. This Act clearly defines the mandate of NLI in relation to the management of manuscripts at the national level. It entrusts NLI with the responsibility of developing national collections as a means of safeguarding cultural heritage, while also ensuring the diversity of library resources through translation, transliteration, transcription, and the use of transmedia. The Act further emphasises the importance of recognition by requiring NLI to honor individuals who store, care for, and preserve ancient manuscripts. At the same time, it places a duty on citizens to safeguard any manuscripts in their possession and to register them with the National Library. In addition, NLI is tasked with identifying and reclaiming ancient manuscripts that are located abroad, thus reinforcing its role in preserving the nation’s cultural memory.
The implementation of this Act holistically covers manuscript management programmes: advocacy, inventory and acquisition, preservation, accessibility, research and publication, capacity building, and repatriation. Through this Act, the scope of the manuscript preservation programme by NLI not only covers its institution but also extends throughout Indonesia and includes Indonesian manuscripts preserved in international institutions. Since then, NLI has implemented manuscript management programmes throughout the country. In 2024, NLI initiated a grand design of Indonesian manuscript management, which serves as a long-term reference in manuscript management in Indonesia.
Scale, Innovation, and Challenge
The UNESCO Memory of the World Jikji Prize’s appreciation for the National Library of Indonesia (NLI) is based on three key characteristics of its programs: scale, innovation, and challenges.
In terms of scale, since 2015, with the support of policy and budget allocation, the acquisition of ancient manuscripts has increased significantly. For comparison, in 1998 the number of ancient manuscripts preserved at NLI was only 9,870, largely inherited from the colonial collections. By 2014, the figure had risen to 10,757, representing a 9% increase. By 2023, the collection had grown to 12,730 manuscripts, an increase of 1,973 or about 18% since 2014. In 2024, NLI acquired additional 536 Sundanese manuscripts, making it the institution holding the largest collection of Sundanese manuscripts in the world.
In the field of preservation, NLI has developed national guidelines and carried out restoration and digitization missions in various regions of Indonesia. Its reach has been expanded through international cooperation, such as with Leiden University in widening access and in the joint nomination of Memory of the World, as well as with non-governmental organizations. Concrete examples include collaboration with the Dreamsea Project and the Endangered Archives Programme (EAP), through which NLI preserves around 8,500 manuscripts from Southeast Asia in its repository.
Starting in 2025, through a decentralized budget policy, 114 district libraries in Indonesia are engaged in documenting and registering manuscripts found in their regions to be reported to NLI. This program provides the foundation for the data-based manuscript preservation programmes. To foster public interest in preservation efforts, since 2018 NLI has honored 9 individuals and 15 institutions in Indonesia that have actively contributed to the safeguarding of manuscripts. This initiative was intended to encourage both the individuals dan the institutions to take part in manuscript documentation and preservation.
In addition to the quantitative increase in the preservation programmes at the national scale, innovative programs through the mainstreaming of Indonesian manuscripts have positioned NLI as a leading institution in the country. This programme aims to ensure that works from the past can be transmitted to younger generations through various creative products. In 2024, NLI produced 100 children’s books and comics based on Indonesian manuscripts, which have been distributed to 20,000 village libraries across Indonesia, and also made available online via the iPusnas application for free access. In 2025, NLI also produce 25 children comics based on Babad Diponegoro, a manuscript recognized by UNESCO as a Memory of the World in 2013.
Despite its innovativeness, the preservation and accessibility programme of manuscript in Indonesia face considerable challenges. The vast geography of Indonesia requires careful planning in preparing human resources and budget allocations. The varied writing media present further challenges in preservation efforts, necessitating tailored actions according to the specific conditions of the materials. Different media require different treatments. Different regions with different cultural traditions require different practices. Traditional practices, such as those observed among the Balinese in preserving palm-leaf manuscripts, for example, provide valuable guidance for preventive actions rooted in local wisdom. Furthermore, to address the diversity of scripts/writing systems and languages, philologists from NLI and professional associations assist in the identification of manuscripts. NLI have found that involvement and participation of all available conservator resources and textual experts in every program is therefore imperative. This has now become the initiative that we are campaigning.