The Manuscript Collection Values of Radya Pustaka Museum, Surakarta, Indonesia

The purpose of this paper is to identify the value of the manuscript belonging to the Radya Pustaka Museum Library and explore the fundamentals of collecting the manuscript in the museum by describing the history of the manuscript for the Javanese community. The manuscript collection of Radya Pustaka Museum Library is one of the cultural heritages of Indonesia. The collection of such manuscripts has historical, cultural, archeological, artistic and educational values; therefore, all these are valuable for education to be preserved. The history of Radya Pustaka Museum functioning as a site to store manuscripts has significance, especially, to Javanese and is considered as cultural heritages owned by Indonesia. The richness and diversity of the manuscripts owned by a nation can prove the existence of its culture in the past. The values contained in the manuscripts and the physical texts can enchance the understanding of the past culture which can be used as a future representative. Identifying the value of the manuscript can help librarians determine priorities for conservation measures to extend the life of the manuscript. In addition, it can be used to propose funding for donors from the government and the community