Tamil Nadu suspends 5 library officials over AI-generated books, fake authors and inflated prices
CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has suspended five library officials over the procurement of AI-generated books for the Periyar Arivulagam Library in Coimbatore.
According to an announcement made by school education minister A Rajmohan on Sunday, those suspended are S Kamatchi, chief librarian, Anna Centenary Library (ACL), Chennai; Dinesh Kumar, chief librarian and information officer (in-charge), Kalaignar Centenary Library , Madurai; V Santhanakrishnan, librarian and information officer, Kalaignar Centenary Library, Madurai, and in-charge of the Periyar Arivulagam Library; S Santhana Karthikeyan, librarian and information officer, ACL, Chennai; and J Juliet, chief accounts officer, Directorate of Public Libraries.
The minister said the irregularities had occurred during the previous DMK regime.
The alleged irregularities came to light after writer Perumal Murugan identified nearly 1,800 books from Agal Vilakku Pathippagam in the library’s fourth-floor Tamil section.
The books reportedly carried inflated prices, AI-generated misinformation, fictitious author names and invalid International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs).
Writers and researchers subsequently flagged similar irregularities elsewhere.
Researchers have also raised concerns about the library’s English-language books. S Satheesh Kumar, who examined the collection, found more than 200 titles from 3GE Learning Publications with allegedly fake ISBNs .
Priced between Rs 6,000 and Rs 9,900, some of the books carried dubious publisher website details and fictitious author credentials.
In one instance, a book on electronics and instrumentation listed a Pakistani woman as its editor.
When contacted, she said she was an environmental scientist. Kumar also found books containing more than 60% plagiarised content and apparently fabricated authors
According to an announcement made by school education minister A Rajmohan on Sunday, those suspended are S Kamatchi, chief librarian, Anna Centenary Library (ACL), Chennai; Dinesh Kumar, chief librarian and information officer (in-charge), Kalaignar Centenary Library , Madurai; V Santhanakrishnan, librarian and information officer, Kalaignar Centenary Library, Madurai, and in-charge of the Periyar Arivulagam Library; S Santhana Karthikeyan, librarian and information officer, ACL, Chennai; and J Juliet, chief accounts officer, Directorate of Public Libraries.
The minister said the irregularities had occurred during the previous DMK regime.
The alleged irregularities came to light after writer Perumal Murugan identified nearly 1,800 books from Agal Vilakku Pathippagam in the library’s fourth-floor Tamil section.
The books reportedly carried inflated prices, AI-generated misinformation, fictitious author names and invalid International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs).
Writers and researchers subsequently flagged similar irregularities elsewhere.
Researchers have also raised concerns about the library’s English-language books. S Satheesh Kumar, who examined the collection, found more than 200 titles from 3GE Learning Publications with allegedly fake ISBNs .
Priced between Rs 6,000 and Rs 9,900, some of the books carried dubious publisher website details and fictitious author credentials.
In one instance, a book on electronics and instrumentation listed a Pakistani woman as its editor.
When contacted, she said she was an environmental scientist. Kumar also found books containing more than 60% plagiarised content and apparently fabricated authors
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