When V Selvakumar was five years old, books had already become an important part of his life. He would visit a library in another part of his village in Tamil Nadu, drawn to the world that opened up through its pages. But years later, when he tried to ensure that the library remained accessible to readers like him, he encountered a barrier that had little to do with books or education.The refusal changed his plans. If his community could not access a library in another part of the village, Selvakumar decided, it would build its own.Today, a public library in Semmadu village, west of Coimbatore, stands as a resource for students in Gandhi Colony, a Scheduled Caste neighbourhood. The initiative has also accompanied a change in educational outcomes: when the library was established, the community had just four graduates. That number has since risen to 30.
When caste prejudice stood in the way of a library
Selvakumar, now 40, had grown up visiting a library in the part of the village where people from other communities lived. In 2011, while he was in college, the building fell into disrepair and the library was moved to a small room beneath an overhead water tank.Unhappy with the condition of a place that had helped nurture his love for reading, he began looking for a solution. He spotted unused space in a community hall behind his colony and approached the panchayat president with a request to relocate the library there.The proposal initially received approval. However, the decision was later reversed after objections from some members of the dominant caste, according to a report by The New Indian Express.Selvakumar recalled that the objections centred on the idea of sending their children to the colony. The request was subsequently withdrawn, leaving him angry and hurt.For him, the episode exposed how caste discrimination could restrict access to something as fundamental as a public library. A place meant to make knowledge available to everyone had become the centre of a dispute over where children from different communities should go.Instead of abandoning the idea, Selvakumar decided to create an alternative in his own neighbourhood.
Photo courtesy: Linkedin/Selvakumar Vellingiri
Turning an unused building into a space for learning
On the night of April 26, 2016, Selvakumar and his friends went to an unmaintained government community hall where cattle hides used for making drums were stored.The following day, they organised a career guidance programme for young people from the Scheduled Caste community. The programme focused on the importance of education and living with dignity.The library began functioning as a government library with permission from the district collector. Its organisers also wanted young readers to remain connected with current affairs, so they made newspapers available.Even the small expense of buying newspapers became a collective effort. The team collected just one rupee a month from each family in the village to pay for them.The idea was simple: create a place where students could read, learn about the world and prepare for opportunities that might otherwise seem distant.A library can provide much more than books. For students preparing for competitive examinations, access to newspapers, reference material and a quiet place to study can make a practical difference. It can also introduce children to educational and career possibilities they may not encounter in their immediate surroundings.For Selvakumar, who had experienced the value of reading from an early age, building such a resource was closely linked to his belief that education could help his community progress.
From four graduates to 30
The impact of the initiative is reflected in the change in the number of graduates in the neighbourhood.When the library was established, there were only four graduates in the area. The number has now increased to 30. Some members of the community work in private companies, while one has become a schoolteacher.The figures do not, by themselves, establish that the library was solely responsible for the increase. However, they offer a measure of the educational progress that has taken place in the community since the initiative began.For students who use the facility, the library has become a place to pursue ambitions that require sustained study. Some children use the facility to prepare for competitive examinations.
Keeping the library alive
The journey has not been without difficulties. After Selvakumar moved to Ahmedabad, the facility began to deteriorate.Local youth groups subsequently joined hands with MLA S P Velumani to take over an unused or underutilised space. Through their efforts, the property was officially transferred from general government control to the Library Department so that it could operate as a public reading facility.The development helped give the initiative an institutional footing beyond the efforts of the people who had first set it up.Selvakumar has acknowledged that creating infrastructure does not bring immediate change. But he believes that establishing a repository of knowledge within a community can make a significant difference over time.That distinction matters. A building can be opened in a day, but the benefits of a library depend on whether students continue to use it, whether books and newspapers remain available, and whether the facility can be maintained for future generations.The experience in Semmadu also highlights the importance of community participation in sustaining public resources. What began with Selvakumar’s determination eventually required the involvement of local young people and government authorities to keep the library functioning.
A library that offers more than books
For the children of Gandhi Colony, the library represents an opportunity to study and prepare for a future shaped by their own ambitions rather than by the limitations imposed on them.Selvakumar’s story began with a young boy who loved books and wanted to visit a library. Years later, when caste prejudice stood in the way of that access, he chose to help create a space where others in his community could read and learn.The rise from four graduates to 30 is an important marker of progress, even as the longer-term impact of the library continues to unfold.Its significance lies not only in the number of students who pass through its doors, but also in the access it offers to knowledge, information and educational opportunities.For a community that faced resistance over where its children could go to read, the library has become a reminder that access to education should not depend on caste or neighbourhood. It is a space where the next generation can find books, prepare for examinations and begin imagining futures that once seemed harder to reach.
