UNAIR NEWS – “I am willing to be put in prison as long as I have books with me because through books I am free.” That statement was from the first vice president of Indonesia, Drs. Muhammad Hatta. During the struggle for Independence, the Father of Indonesian Cooperatives was exiled and imprisoned many times. But being detained did not stop him from observing the world and improving his knowledge especially when he had books with him.

Bung Hatta’s experience is a real example of how books important in a life of an intellectual. Famous national or even world leaders must be close with books. It should be a lesson for students, young intellectuals, future leaders to enjoy reading books.

But, what if students are far from books? Immense technology development will make them more acquainted with social media, instead of reading books for reference.

Those things caused our anxiety, Universitas Airlangga Alumni, Arif Syaifurrisal (Aquaculture Management, FPK 2009) dan Gading Ekapuja Aurizki (Nursing Education, FKP 2010), our students as intellectuals have low interest on reading. For that reason, we were trying to find a way to make students interested in books again.

In Februari 2015, we decided to establish a publishing company, Pustaka Saga. This publishing company is a way to encourage students to read again, especially through books written by students. Under the management of CV. Saga Jawa Dwipa, “Pustaka Saga” empower the students’ potentials, especially UNAIR students, as the resources of the publisher. Activities in Pustaka Saga are all conducted by UNAIR students, started from lay outs to editing.

Saga is the short form of Satria Airlangga. Pustaka Saga publishes books on organizations, students movements, histories, youth, inspiring stories, ideas and literature.

After a year of establishment, Pustaka Saga has published 20 titles of books. Some of the are Menjaga Nafas Gerakan (Gading E.A.), Kuasa Jilbab (Kang Heri Setiawan), Dari Mahasiswa untuk Indonesia Berprestasi (Jawwad dan Hakim, dkk), Mister Gagal (Shalahuddin Al-Fatih), Ayo Main Biar Pinter (Mei Yunlusi Irawati), Jejak-Jejak Mengangkasa (Gading EA, dkk), and some other books.

The authors of the books are mostly students. They are from Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Medan, Solo, Jakarta, Bandung, and Manado. Pustaka Saga published books are also distributed all around the nation, and reviewed in some cities.

Pustaka Saga is expanding its publishing network to meet the demand in each region. The center of marketing and distribution is in Jakarta and managed by FISIP UNAIR alumnus who is currently studying at Universitas Pertahanan (UNHAN), Anis Maryuni Ardi.
Arif Syaifurrisal as the President Director hoped that Pustaka Saga can incite the culture of literacy especially among students.

“Students as intellectuals shouldn’t be separated from literacy activities. In the future, Pustaka Saga will make the students close with culture of literacy,” said the young man from Bojonegoro.

Students can use Pustaka Saga as their means to learning. It is always open to students have interests on publishing. We also encourage young authors to publish their works with Pustaka Saga. (*)

Author:Gading Ekapuja Aurizki
Editor: Binti Q. Masruroh