To repair 3800 libraries located in the rural places in the state of Tamil Nadu, an amount of Rs 84 cr has been sanctioned now by the government. Under the Anaithu Grama Anna Marumalarchi Thittam or AGAMT, the rural development dept began building 12525 libraries in all the villages in TN 10 years back.
The government that was present at that time purchased books worth several lakhs for these libraries to help the students, women and senior persons. It must be noted that these persons would not be able to travel to the respective district headquarters to access the public libraries.The lack of funds to run the libraries have resulted in closure of the libraries. It must be noted that in 2015 around 2000 libraries were functioning and that too for 3 days in a week .
Now after a decade the chief minister of Tamil Nadu Mr. MK. Staklin has revived the AGAMT and an amount of Rs 91 crores were sanctioned for repairing 4116 libraries present in the rural places across the state. To renovate 3808 libraries in Tamil Nadu, an additional amount of Rs 84 crores has been sanctioned by the rural development secretary. It is now said that every library in the rural places would be allotted Rs 50000 for purchasing new books and it would be decided by the state level committee.
It was mentioned by Mr. Thirunavukarasu, librarian, that those who prepare for various competitive exams do not have a place to sit and study. Repairing the rural libraries would be of huge help for these aspiring students. The reading habit of the children would become better by this work of repairing the libraries. Those who cannot afford to spend on buying new books would be benefited. This was as per Mr. K. Nityanandam of Madras Library Association.