Thousands of books removed from Vellore region libraries over fake content charges

Authorities removed nearly 8,000 books published by Agalvilakku and Phoenix Publications from District Central Libraries across Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupattur, and Tiruvannamalai districts.

Details

Workers pulled a total of 7,995 books off the racks on Friday. The action follows complaints that fake and artificial intelligence-generated books were bought from these publishers for public libraries, including the newly opened Periyar Arivulagam library in Coimbatore. S. Valli, the District Library Officer for Tiruvannamalai, stated that officials collected the flagged books from both central and branch distribution stocks for 2025 and 2026, and placed them into a separate room.

District Numbers

Ranipet and Tirupattur recorded the highest count with 2,401 books each. Tiruvannamalai follows with 2,209 books, and Vellore holds 984 books. G. Satish, a library reader, noted that books covering competitive exams draw large crowds because the central library maintains a strong general knowledge collection. District libraries normally stock titles on history, politics, law, economics, philosophy, agriculture, computers, and mathematics, along with reference guides for the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission and UPSC exams.

Context

Public libraries in Tamil Nadu procure tens of thousands of books every year based on feedback from local readers and librarians before sending them out to smaller branch libraries across each district.