TIRUCHY: By the end of January, over 130 public libraries across the district will be equipped with new book collections worth about Rs 1.39 crore, comprising 5,273 titles and 74,946 copies, courtesy the Transparent Book Procurement Policy, officials from the Directorate of Public Libraries said.

Under the policy, whose procurement officials said follows a revised, reader-driven allocation model aimed at improving subject diversity and responding to local demand, the books were received nearly two months ago. Of these over 5,000 have been despatched and around 40,000 copies have already been processed.

The remaining titles are currently being catalogued and are expected to reach libraries before the end of January. Further, as part of the exercise, around 3,000 books have been exclusively allocated to the district central library to strengthen its reference and advanced reading sections.

The newly-procured books cover majorly competitive examination guides, academic and subject-specific texts, fiction, and general non-fiction, reflecting a shift away from uniform stocking towards demand-based selection, officials added.

Under the system which was introduced in March 2024, district-level libraries receive an allocation of Rs 5 lakh each; full-time libraries, Rs 2 lakh; branch libraries, Rs 1.25 lakh; and village libraries, Rs 75,000 each, ensuring a more equitable distribution of resources across urban and rural libraries.

The district's library network comprises eight full-time taluk libraries, 65 village libraries, 56 branch libraries and seven part-time libraries. On the new book procurement policy, District Library Officer R Saravamakumar told TNIE that it places emphasis on reader preferences, contemporary relevance and subject balance, helping libraries better serve students, job aspirants and general readers.