Sengottaiyan announces Rs 10 lakh to conduct state-level libraries conferences

Chennai: School Education Minister K A Sengottaiyan announced Rs 10 lakh to conduct state-level public libraries conferences every year. The minister announced it while inaugurating the 1st Regional Public Libraries Conference on Tuesday.

Addressing the gathering, Sengottaiyan said that the role of public libraries in knowledge dissemination was not ignored and that the Tamil Nadu Government would set up 32 IAS study centres at government public libraries, one each in every district of the state, within the next two months. "Rural students preparing for the Indian Administrative Service exams have always relied on public libraries to support them; these study centres are a further step to assist them," he said.

Sengottaiyan along with listing the budgetary allocations made to upgrade major libraries in the state urged the audience to visit the Anna Centenary Library in Chennai, which he said matched global standards. The library which was set up at a cost of Rs 742 crore been allocated Rs 5 crore this year for development and maintenance, he said.

The minister also inaugurated a Public Library app which will enable users to locate the closest libraries and find information on the total availability of various books and services offered, receive news feed from public libraries, access resources on knowledge and finance, and share information across social media.

Award-winning librarians from across the state and from Kerala discussed their success stories and knowledge dissemination models through the day at the conference, highlighting the UN's Sustainable Development Goals as the motivation behind their various projects.