Kottayam, the Akshara Nagari where Kerala's first printing press and first college began
Background
Kottayam town was the first town in India to achieve 100% literacy, a feat achieved in 1989.
English education in South India began at the Old Seminary at Kottayam in 1813.
The first printing press in Kerala, the CMS Press, was established at Kottayam in 1821 by Rev. Benjamin Baily.
The first college in the State, CMS College, was started at Kottayam in 1840.
The first printed Malayalam-English and English-Malayalam dictionaries were published from Kottayam in 1846 and 1847 respectively.
The first and only co-operative society of writers, authors and publishers for publishing books and periodicals, the SPCS, was set up there in 1945.
Kottayam is called Akshara Nagari, the city of letters, and was the first town in India selected by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests to be transformed into an Eco City.
In plain words
CMS Church Missionary Society — The mission whose press and college at Kottayam were the first of their kind in Kerala.
SPCS The co-operative society of writers, authors and publishers set up at Kottayam — The district administration records it as the first and only co-operative society of writers, authors and publishers for publishing books and periodicals.