CHENNAI: The State government on Sunday suspended five senior officials of the Directorate of Public Libraries over alleged large-scale irregularities in procuring books for government libraries, including the purchase of AI-generated publications, books carrying fictitious information and fake author names and titles with questionable ISBNs.
The action, ordered by School Education Minister A Rajmohan, comes four days after the Madras High Court directed the government to initiate disciplinary proceedings against officials involved in the alleged irregularities and ordered the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) to register an FIR.
The suspended officials include the Chief Librarian and Information Officer (in-charge), who is also the Deputy Chief Librarian, of Anna Centenary Library (ACL), Chennai; the Chief Librarian and Information Officer (in-charge) of Kalaignar Centenary Library (KCL), Madurai; a Librarian and Information Officer at KCL, who was also holding additional charge of Periyar Library, Coimbatore; another Librarian and Information Officer at ACL; and the Chief Accounts Officer of the Directorate of Public Libraries.
The Chief Accounts Officer of the Directorate of Public Libraries and the Chief Librarian and Information Officer of ACL were members of the Book Procurement Negotiation Committee, which was tasked with negotiating prices with publishers. Sources said the suspensions followed an internal inquiry. However, the department has not made public any order issued for the inquiry or details of its findings.
The controversy came to light earlier this month after writer Perumal Murugan highlighted that books at the newly inaugurated Periyar Arivulagam library in Coimbatore contained fabricated historical and literary references.
The department later began examining the procurements, with similar discrepancies reported at other government libraries, including books bought for district and branch libraries.
The department has so far identified around 71,000 such books across the state.
More than 300 questionable books were also identified at KCL, for which the procurement exercise was undertaken in 2022. The books included publications with discrepancies in their ISBN details and author names.
A Government Order issued on November 5, 2025, governed book procurement for five special libraries, Periyar Arivulagam in Coimbatore, Kamarajar Arivulagam in Tiruchy, Bharathidasan Arivulagam in Salem, Anjalai Ammal Arivulagam in Cuddalore and Quaide Milleth Arivulagam in Tirunelveli, as well as six new district libraries.
Minister A Rajmohan announced the cancellation of all book procurement orders placed so far, including those for the four special libraries yet to be inaugurated.
The GO constituted four committees to oversee the procurement: the 137-member Book Recommendation Committee, the 13-member Book Selection Committee, the five-member Book Procurement Negotiation Committee and the five-member High-Level Committee.
The Book Recommendation Committee comprised authors, scholars and experts from various fields, who were entrusted with recommending titles for procurement in their respective domains.
The High-Level Committee, which oversaw the procurement process, was headed by the Principal Secretary to the School Education Department and comprised the Director of Public Libraries, Special Secretary (Education-II) of the Finance Department, Secretary of the Tamil Development Department and Managing Director of the Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation.
The Director of Public Libraries was designated as the Member-Secretary of the committee.
