Ikalbar App: Build a Society Reading Culture of West Kalimantan During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Background of the study: West Kalimantan was in 31st position with a score of 28.36 for the Provincial Reading Literacy Activity (Alibaca) index. It’s means that peaople’s reading interest is low.
 Purpose: To improve the reading culture in West Kalimantan, there were digital library application called iKalbar.
 Method: The data were was primary data sources taken from 1,224 respondents as the population and 93 respondents as the sample. It used a quota sampling technique. The data collection technique used descriptive analysis with SPSS 25.
 Findings: The result on the accessibility dimension showed that te majority of respondents scored iKalbar as the comfortable and easy application for searching the books that they needed when their mobility was limited during the lockdown period. Meanwhile, on the reusability dimension, the majority of respondents scored it as the efficient and effective application, especially during the pandemic to look for the resources needed. It can be seen from the three dimensions of assessment of the reading culture of the people of West Kalimantan that the majority of respondents considered iKalbar application providing user friendly, especially in the features which was compatible for all the devices. Furthermore, the additional duration and number of books to be borrowed provided by the application resulted the improvement in accessing and reading electronic books in iKalbar application.
 Conclusions: As people’s access to iKalbar increases, people will get used to the habit of accessing and reading electronic books. The habit that was started due to the momentum of the pandemic has encourage the growth of a reading culture among the community, although it has not shown a significant reading culture among the people of West Kalimantan.