The ACL, built at a cost of Rs172 crore during the previous DMK regime was thrown open to the general public by the then Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on September 15 2010.

The library hogged international limelight when Hillary Clinton, the US state secretary addressed a select gathering during her official visit to Chennai last July.

The decision to convert the library into a children’s hospital was taken in a cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Tuesday.

The Indian Green Building Council had issued Gold Rating to the library because of its energy efficiency.

The government release said the ACL would be shifted to the international knowledge centre being set up at Egmore in the heart of the city. Political observers describe this action as a move by the AIADMK government to demolish all major landmarks that were constructed and inaugurated by the Karunandhi regime.

The Karunanidhi government used the plot of land to build the state-of-the-art library. The DMK government also constructed a new secretariat which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi on March 13, 2010. But the entire secretariat could not be shifted to the new building because some of the works could not be completed as scheduled.

Jayalalithaa, who was sworn in as chief minister for the fourth time on May 16, 2011 decided to shift the secretariat and assembly back to Fort St Geroge, the previousheadquarters of the Tamil Nadu administration. The new secretariat has been converted into a medical college and super specialty reference hospital for the poor.

She also ordered a probe into the irregularities associated with the construction of the secretariat. A retired judge of the Madras High Court is holding an enquiry into the whole episode.