Library Movement in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu's transformation as a model knowledge society flows from its continuous investment in the library movement. The state boasts of 4661 libraries under the Directorate of Public Libraries alone along with numerous specialised libraries across the state.

- Sundar Ganesan

In the last 100 years, Tamil Nadu has transformed into a knowledge-based society. The social, literary, and political movements brought changes in educational policies that broadbased and democratized education to all parts of Tamil Nadu. Education is the key to social mobility and it was rightly democratized through a series of interventions like the issuance of communal G.O. by the then Justice Party which helped increase representation of people belonging to diverse castes and religions. Amongst many interventions, a library movement also began in the early 20th century.

The Connemara Public Library is one of the four repository libraries in India. One of the oldest libraries in Tamil Nadu is Serfoji's Saraswathi Mahal Library which was opened to the public in 1918. Closely after Indian Independence the Madras Public Libraries Act was passed in the year 1948 under the chief ministership of Thiru Omandur Ramaswamy Reddiar. It is the first Act for the public libraries in Independent India. Other states followed suit. The Madras Public Libraries Act provides for overall governance by a State Library Committee presided over by the Education Minister for the State. In 1972, the DMK Government established the Directorate of Public Libraries which catapulted the Library movement in Tamil Nadu in a big way. This led to the establishment of a number of libraries throughout Tamil Nadu. Currently 4661 libraries function under the Department of Public Libraries (DPL). Apart from the Connemara Public Library (Chennai), the Anna Centenary Library (Chennai), and the Kalaignar Centenary Library (Madurai), there are 32 district central libraries, 314 full-time branch libraries, 14 mobile libraries, 1612 branch libraries, 1915 village libraries, and 771 part-time libraries.