Overview

• The School Education department’s circular instructs government and government-aided secondary and higher secondary schools to procure about 560 titles for their libraries, of which 19 are authored by Mamata Banerjee.
• The recommended titles are organized into five regional sets and distributed to school authorities across 25 districts.
• The state has allocated Rs 20.26 crore for the 2026 library development programme, providing Rs 1 lakh to each of 2,026 schools.
• Representatives from the Secondary Teachers and Employees Association and other educator groups argue the mandate erodes schools’ freedom to select their own reading materials.
• The Publishers and Book Sellers Guild will oversee procurement, coordinating between district inspectors and publishers to supply the required titles.