About Library

After the British crown took over the governance of the Indian Sub Continent it made every effort to change the sociocultural nature of the continent. The Act of 1860 gave people the freedom to start associations and to participate in local governance . Local Boards were formed by Indians to improve the local living conditions of the people. In 1875 the Srivilliputtur town was without gravel roads,public lightining sanitations and schools. The people were under the control of local land lords and zamindars. They were suffering from poverty and insanitary conditions. There was no one to raise the voice for their well being , poverty and ignorance prevailed everywhere. In this utter darkness, aray of light and hope, in the form of the pennington committee, was lighted by A. Ramachandra Rao,T.Ramasamy Iyer, T.Krishna Rao, Muthu Iyengar, T.SaravanaMuthu pillai and p. Muthusami pillai.They joined together and started the Pennington Public library in the name of J.B Pennington, the then Collector of Tirunelveli District. The main aim of the committee was to eradicate the ignorance by spreading knowledge. In order to sustain the Library, The committee members purchased a land in the sattur Road and constructed a shopping complex. The income from the shopping complex was utilized for the upkeep of the library and a number of social welfare projects. Thus the first ,bold experiment in democratic institution was born . The founders had a broad vision for the uplift or rural masses.