Puthuvayil Narayana
Panicker (01 March 1909 – 19 June 1995), The Father of
the Library Movement.
Panicker was born in
a Nair family on 1st March 1909 at Neelamperoor, India.
His father's name was Govinda Pillai and Janaky Amma was his mother. In
1926 he started the Sanadanadharmam Library as a teacher in
his hometown. he was a teacher and his influence on society was much
greater than many of his time. Panicker led the formation of Thiruvithaamkoor
Granthasala Sangham in 1945 with 47 rural libraries. The slogan of the
organization was 'Read and Grow'. Later
on, with the formation of Kerala State in 1956, it became Kerala Granthasala
Sangham . He traveled to the villages of Kerala proclaiming the value of
reading. He succeeded in bringing some 6,000 libraries into this network.
Granthasala Sangham won the ‘Krupsakaya Award’ from UNESCO in
1975. Panicker was the General Secretary of Sangham for 32 years, until 1977,
when it was taken over by the State Government. On 19th June 1995 the pioneer
father of library movement P.N. Panicker has passed away.
P. N. Panicker who was the Father of the Library Movement. The activities of the Kerala
Grandhasala Sangham that he initiated triggered a popular cultural
movement in Kerala which produced universal literacy in the state in the 1990s.
June 19, his death anniversary, has
been observed in Kerala as Reading Day since 1996. The Department of
Education in Kerala also observes Reading Week for a week from June 19tth
to 25th.
In 2017, Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi declared June 19, Kerala's Reading Day,
as National Reading
Day in India .The following
month is also observed as National Reading Month in India.
