PORTALJABAR, GARUT REGENCY - The Assistant for General Administration of the Regional Secretariat of Garut Regency, Margiyanto, opened the Grand Final of the 2026 Garut Regency Reading Ambassador Competition at the Youth Building, Tarogong Kidul District, to shape the younger generation as drivers of reading culture in the community (25/6/2026).

A total of 20 best finalists from the student and college student categories took part in the final round after going through a selection process that lasted almost three months.

Margiyanto said that the Reading Ambassadors have an important role as government partners in strengthening the literacy movement in educational settings and the community.

"Their role is to contribute ideas, promote awareness, and support the literacy movement in society and educational settings. Reading ambassadors will champion readers and literacy, and increase public interest in reading. The reading culture movement is not solely the government's responsibility; it is the responsibility of all levels of society. Therefore, we must support and promote the noble task of reading ambassadors," he said.

Margiyanto hopes that the Reading Ambassadors will be able to become a source of educational information and encourage the younger generation to return to using libraries.

Head of the Garut Regency Library and Archives Service, Totong, is targeting each sub-district to have a Reading Ambassador who actively promotes a culture of literacy.

"In fact, there are 42 Reading Ambassadors in each sub-district in Garut Regency. So, this is how the Reading Ambassadors go out into the field to ensure that each sub-district has representatives," he said.

Committee Chairman Zaqi M. Rais explained that this year's participants came from 29 sub-districts, an increase compared to the previous event.

According to Zaqi, the increase in the number of participants shows that the literacy program is increasingly known and its benefits are felt by the people of Garut Regency.

(Garut Regency Communications and Information Service/bhf)