Public libraries across Tamil Nadu have begun identifying and removing books procured from Agal Vilakku Publication and Phoenix Publishers from public access shelves, a day after the Madras High Court rapped the state over the purchases and directed action in the alleged fake and AI-generated books row.

Source: Mirror Now

At the Connemara Public Library in Chennai, 527 books had been removed from the racks as of Wednesday. At the Periyar Arivulagam library in Coimbatore, around 1,800 books have been taken off public access. In Chennai, the Anna Centenary Library has begun separating the books, with Chief Librarian S. Kamatchi saying the task is expected to be finalised within two days.

Source: The Times of India via Zaobao India

District-by-district removal

In the Nilgiris, District Library Officer L. Clement said about 75 per cent of the work across 104 libraries was complete, with the rest expected by Thursday; most identified books were Phoenix titles procured last year, while 669 Agal Vilakku books received this year had not yet been shelved. In Trichy district, at least 1,510 volumes valued at about ₹3.09 lakh are being withdrawn from around 130 libraries — 1,024 Agal Vilakku books worth about ₹2.13 lakh and 486 Phoenix books worth about ₹96,000.

Library staff have been instructed to log purchase dates and quantities so records are available for review, and library managements were weighing whether the removed volumes should be handed over to the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), which is probing the procurement.

The earlier court order

The removal follows the High Court's November 10 directions in the library-books case — including a DVAC FIR and the freezing of the publishers' accounts — after allegations that books supplied to public libraries included plagiarised and AI-generated works attributed to phantom authors. Those allegations remain under investigation, and the publishers' wrongdoing has not been established by a final court finding.