Denied library entry as boy, he helped open one; graduates rose from 4 to 30
V Selvakumar, a resident of a Scheduled Caste colony in Tamil Nadu, successfully established a public library after facing caste-based discrimination that prevented his community from accessing existing facilities. Since the library's opening, the number of graduates in the neighborhood has increased from four to thirty.
Why it matters
It highlights the intersection of social inequality and educational access, demonstrating how grassroots activism can overcome systemic caste-based barriers.
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.
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