Tamil Nadu’s library book selection process has come under scrutiny after Sultan Ismail, a zoology professor and former member of the State Planning Commission, said he withdrew from the selection panel because an earlier expert-led procedure was replaced by a blank Google Sheet for recommending books.
The account was reported by Dinamalar on November 7. Ismail was among 13 members listed for the committee responsible for selecting books for libraries. The committee’s details were published on November 5, 2025, according to the report.
Ismail said the process had previously operated under Ilambagavath IAS, who served as director of the Public Library Department. During that period, professors and subject experts were asked to submit lists of books required in their fields. The panel then examined those recommendations and selected titles considered important for students and readers.
According to Ismail, he was responsible for reviewing books related to zoology and environmental studies. He said the committee also considered the needs of colleges, higher education students and competitive-examination candidates, since colleges could not purchase every book required by their students.
He said the selection process involved consulting known authors and publishers before the final titles were chosen. The lists were subsequently uploaded using software, he said, indicating a structured process in which subject recommendations were collected and then converted into a book-selection database.
Ismail said that procedure was later discontinued. In December, he received a Google Sheet and was asked to fill in details including the title and author of each book. He told Dinamalar that the sheet did not contain a preliminary list from which he could select titles.
He said he responded that he could not fill in a blank sheet and asked for a list of books to be reviewed. He also described the revised method as improper and said he could not select books through that process. He subsequently withdrew from the panel, according to the report.
The account places the focus on an administrative question that affects the quality and relevance of public-library collections: whether book procurement is based on identified subject requirements and expert review, or on recommendations entered into a digital form without a supplied selection list. The report does not provide the government’s response, the total number of books affected, or details of whether the procedure was later revised.
The reported committee was intended to support book selection for public libraries, which serve readers preparing for higher education and competitive examinations as well as general readers. Any change in the method used to choose titles therefore has a direct bearing on what material becomes available through the library network.
The next documented steps from the Public Library Department, including the committee’s current status and the procedure now being followed, were not included in the report.
