Education

In 1880 the committee started, the puckle’s High case Girl’s School for the uplift of girls. In an era when education itself was out of reach of the public, the bold experiment of Pennington committee to educate the rural girls was a pioneer attempt.

1880

Lamp

In 1880, the committee purchased 12 lamp post lanterns and installed them around Sri Andal Temple. In order to improve the trade in the market, the committee purchased the land north of market and converted into Pandy Pettah for the convenience of carriages (1881).

1880-81

Water

In 1881 The committee sanctioned money to deepen the well in Nadagasalai street. The committee appointed a watchman for Thirumukkulam Tank to keep it clean and to avoid illegal use of the tank water. The committee provided a permanent water panda at the market for the convenience of the village people and the cart drivers in 1882.

1881-82

Medicine

In 1884 when Cholera struck the people, the committed sanctioned Rs.15/- for providing medicine to the people attacked with Cholera. The committee also appointed two additional Sweepers to clean the town. When the British government appointed Mr.Werkey, as the hospital assistant, the committee placed Rs.15/- at the disposal of Mr. Werkey for the purchase of medicine for the public in August 1886

1884-86

Library

The Pennington committee started the Pennington Public Library in the year 1875 to serve the rural Public to make the Library a leading one the committee sought the assistance of Mr. FA. Wickon Esq in England in the selection of books on sciences, Arts & industries, Biographies and standard books on histories (1890). Under his able guidance the best collection of books were purchased.

1875-90

Auditorim

1962 an auditorium hall was built at a cost of Rs. 55,000 and was opened by justice Sir. C.P. Ramasamy Iyer. The auditorium was needed by the committee as place for literary festivals.

1962

Library Opening

The Library building was renovated and its annexure were built in the year 1970 and was opened by then the Chief Justice of Madras High Court Honorable Sri K. Veerasamy. The new Library building provided the public the most comfortable atmosphere for reading. The readers thronged in large numbers.

1970

Children’s Section and New Program

In 1998 the Children’s section was added to the Library in order to inculcate the reading habit in young children. Every Sunday an educational CD is exclusively played for the children. Most of the children in sitting this section are from the weaker sections of the society. In 1999, a new program called “Meet an author every month” was launched. More than 20 famous Tamil authors attended the program me and it was a great success. Under this program the readers and the fans of these authors interacted with each other. It bridged the gap between the rural readers and the urban authors.

1998-99

Browsing Centre

In 2001 the additional building was constructed with the financial help of Raja Ram Mohan Roy Library Foundation. Two new sections the science & Technology section and Internet Browsing centre were opened. These new additional sections are helping the rural students in getting the latest knowledge in various fields.

2001

Anniversary

The 125th year anniversary of the library was celebrated during Dec 2000 in a grand manner. It was a three day festival. The Pennington committee and the Madurai Kamaraj University jointly conducted a State level seminar on “The Role of private Public Libraries in changing Information Environment”. It was attended by a large number of scholars and students. It was a cultural festival with ‘classical Fusion” by Divya Raja & Party and classical consort by Sirgali Siva Chidambaram. The rural audiences were thrilled by these programs.

2000