The Faculty of Economics of the University of Indonesia  (FEUI) Library was established in 1951 as a support facility for study, teaching and research at the school of economics in the old University of Indonesia (UI) campus in Salemba, Central Jakarta. After more than four decades of being housed in Salemba, the FEUI Library moved in 1993 to a five-storey building in its new Depok campus on the outskirts of South Jakarta. Seven years after, with the burgeoning scope and function of the library, it evolved into a Resource and Learning Center (RLC) comprising three discrete  units: the FEUI Library, the FEUI Postgraduate Library and the Economics & Business Data Center of FEUI.

On November 1, 2008, in recognition of Prof. Sumitro Djojohadikusumo’s major contributions to and impact on not just the university’s Faculty of Economics but the country as  a whole, the FEUI Library Building was renamed the Sumitro Djojohadikusumo Building after Prof. Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, the father of Bapak Hashim, a founder and Chairperson of Yayasan Arsari Djojohadikusumo (YAD).

Built in the 1980s, the building however had not once been refurbished or modernized and over the years, began to show its age, obvious wear and tear, obsolescence and deterioration unworthy of UI’s status as the country’s premier state university.

In 2011, FEUI submitted a proposal to YAD for the complete renovation and overhaul of the Sumitro Djojohadikusumo Building. YAD approved the proposal and agreed to underwrite the renovation of both the facade and interior of the Sumitro Djojohadikusumo Building, as well the upgrade of  the Resource and Learning Center (RLC) and IT infrastructure.

Begun in 2012, the work was completed in 2013. Not only did the Sumitro Djojohadikusumo Building undergo a total make-over, the RLC obtained cutting-edge hardware and software as well.

The Sumitro Djojohadikusumo Building was inaugurated  on October 10, 2013, with the renaming of the FEUI-RLC to  the Prof. Sumitro Djojohadikusumo Resource and Learning  Center. Now equipped with a world-class library, state-ofthe-art computer center, spacious and convenient reading  and study areas, the RLC boasts collections and facilities expected to develop both the hard and soft skills of the students.

At the inauguration, children of the late Prof. Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, Ibu Bianti Djiwandono, Ibu Mariani Lemaistre and Bapak Hashim were joined by former deans of the FEUI, former ministers, the faculty, staff and student population who were vocal and articulate in their appreciation of YAD’s  all-out support of the RLC’s modernization project. The inauguration concluded with a public lecture delivered by Bapak Hashim.

WADAH newsletter | vol.7 no.1 | April 2014 |