Smartcitizen, are you an avid reader? Or do you need information and insight into a particular topic in depth at the moment? Digital news does offer you easy access, but physical books minimize distractions when you are absorbing the information, because you don't need to watch advertisements or see notifications that might appear on cellphones.

To meet residents' needs for physical books, the JAKI application integrates the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government's Jakarta’s Library site which application is known as JakLitera, through the Jakarta Library feature. Through this feature, JAKI users, including you, can access various Jakarta’s Library services, starting from accessing information about books that can be lent at Jakarta libraries, reserving a ticket to the library, requesting book collections, and others.

Interested in borrowing a book? Before visiting the library, let's look at three recommended books that you can borrow there.

Three Books That Can Be Borrowed at the Jakarta Library

Jakarta’s Library’s website offers access to book loans from various National Libraries, Public Libraries, School/Madrasah Libraries, Incorporated Company (State/Private) Libraries, and Special Libraries in the Thousand Islands, Central Jakarta, North Jakarta, West Jakarta, South Jakarta, and East Jakarta areas.

The book collection that can be lent through Jakarta’s Library website consists of non-fiction and fiction with various genres, such as romance, fantasy, and so on. As per your recommendation, here are three books that you can borrow.

The Midnight Library - Matt Haig

What happens when sci-fi and fantasy genre fiction are combined with mental health topics? Maybe you wouldn't have imagined it until you finally read The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. This novel tells the story of Nora Seed, a 35-year-old woman who has depression. She has a series of unfortunate events in her life; Failing to get married, stopping swimming and disappointing his father, the death of his parents, quitting the band she formed with his younger brother, being fired from his job, fighting with his best friend, and the death of his beloved cat. Nora no longer finds meaning in her life and ends up wanting to end it.

However, after her attempt to end her life, Nora woke up and found herself trapped in a mysterious library called the Midnight Library. Mrs. Elm, the librarian, explained that this library is a place between life and death. Every book in the library could take Nora to an alternative life that she might have lived if she had made different life choices in the past.

Nora's journey begins. Through these books, Nora lived various lives, from being a swimmer, explorer, glaciologist, rock star, philosopher, wife and mother. From the various alternative lives she lived, Nora learned that no life is perfect. There will definitely be advantages and difficulties experienced. The question is, which life will Nora choose in the end?

The Midnight Library novel is suitable for those of you who want to further explore the meaning of life in a lighter fiction package. This novel is 328 pages long, but Haig's writing style makes The Midnight Library never boring to read. Want to read this book? You can borrow the book at the HB Jassin Literary Documentation Center or read it at the Cikini Library.

The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down - Haemin Sunim

Living or doing activities in a big city like Jakarta can make you burn out. Everything moves fast. We are also required to compete with time. So sometimes, there are many small things that we miss just because we are busy, including the need to love ourselves and be happy.

So, for those of you who want to get back to the essential things in life, you can read the book The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim a South Korean-born Buddhist Monk who was educated in the United States. Through pearls of wisdom, this book invites you to stop for a moment, look again inside yourself, and reflect on the things you missed, until you can finally become completely happy.

In its home country, South Korea, The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down has sold more than 4 million copies, was in first place as best-selling book for 41 weeks, and has been translated into more than 35 languages, you know. Even though it consists of 265 pages, the message conveyed in the form of quotes and aphorisms makes this book not as complex as you might imagine. Very suitable for spare time or bed-time read. What are you waiting for? Let’s read this book. You can borrow and read the book The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down at the Cikini Library.

Tiny Habits: Small Life-Changing Changes

Want to make big changes in your life? This book is the right reading choice! Tiny Habits: Perubahan-perubahan Kecil yang Mengubah Hidup by BJ Fogg, PHD is a translated version of Tiny Habits: The Small Changes that Change Everything which is included in the New York Times Best Seller.

Tiny Habits was written by Dr. BJ Fogg, who is also a Behavioral Scientist at Stanford University, conducted research for 20 years and trained more than 60,000 people. Through this book, Dr. Fogg introduced the concept of Tiny Habits which teaches us to make big changes in life. Interestingly, the Tiny Habits concept emphasizes small changes in our routines so that later they can have an impact on achieving goals and even changing our lives.

Written with a practical approach, this book is suitable for anyone who wants to make big changes and achieve goals by focusing on developing small things. Tiny Habits consists of 415 pages and you can find it at the Cikini Library

You can read detailed information about the three books, The Midnight Library, The Things You Can Only See When You Slow Down, and Tiny Habits: The Small Changes that Change Everything on the Jakarta’s Library website.

Book A Visit and Borrow Books in Jakarta’s Library using JAKI

If you have decided which book you want to borrow, then you can register to visit the library to borrow them. To do this, you can directly visit https://perpustakaan.jakarta.go.id/or follow these steps.

• Open the JAKI application;
• Click ‘Library’ in the search bar on Home;
• Select Jakarta Library.

You will immediately go to the Jakarta Library’s website. Next, select the Reservasi Kunjungan (Visit Reservation) menu, fill in the form, and get a QR entry code as your visit ticket. You can also register to borrow books online by visiting the page for the book you want, clicking the '+ Peminjaman’ button, logging in to your Kawan Perpus account, and following the next instructions.

So, how about the book recommendations? Is there one that makes you rush to the library and borrow it? Don't forget to book your visit and borrow the books via JAKI. You don’t have the app yet? Download it first on Google Play Storeor Apple App Storefor free!