Don't Close The Women's Library

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE SAVE THE WOMEN'S LIBRARY CAMPAIGN 

London School of Economics bid will close The Women's Library 

On 13 September, a London Metropolitan University committee meets to decide the fate of The Women's Library collection. There is currently only one bid, from LSE, which will close the purpose built Women's Library building and move the collection making it inaccessible to the wider community. 

Supporters of The Women’s Library, feminists, and historians will be demonstrating at 1pm tomorrow at London Met University to call for a re-opening of the bidding process.

Dr Laura Schwartz of the Save The Women's Library Campaign said, "Without immediate intervention, The Women's Library will be sold off by London Met to the only remaining bidder - the LSE - who will move the collection out of its current purpose built building. We would encourage LSE to resubmit a revised bid for the library however it is crucial if the collection is to remain accessible that the collection and staff remain in The Women’s Library Building". 

By transferring the collection to the 4th floor of an academic library in central London, the LSE bid effectively closes The Women's Library. The Women's Library building is a ten year old purpose built building funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. London Met would be required to repay over £4 million to the Heritage Lottery Fund if the collection moves out of the building. In addition, the transfer makes the collection inaccessible to the wider community who currently use the library. It would also limit the outreach work and exhibitions which presently take place at The Women's Library.

“The process by which London Met has conducted the ‘bidding process’ for the irreplaceable Women’s Library is a national scandal that merits an enquiry".

Professor June Purvis, University of Portsmouth

"The collections need to be in a thoroughfare, as they are in their present premises, not in a closet."

Marina Warner, CBE, feminist historian

 "I hope that this magnificent purpose designed building for The Women Library by award winning architects Wright and Wright finds a future which keeps it all together including the dedicated staff and collection. There has got to be a solution out there? It would be most regrettable if it all gets lost after so much effort and enjoyment of its success"

Angela Brady, President Elect, Royal Institute of British Architects 

Laura Schwartz of the Save The Women’s Library campaign continued, "In 1976, feminists voted to house the collection at the City of London Polytechnic (now London Met University) to ensure the collection was kept together and to make it accessible to non-students. A decision by the Fawcett Society to give the Library to LSE was overturned, due to fact that LSE planned to throw away some of the books and to incorporate the rest into its own cataloguing system, making some of the more obscure references to book chapters of interest to feminists, impossible to find"

ACTION DETAILS:

• Meet 12pm at Holloway tube, Sept 13th
• Sept 22nd Mass Rally to Save The Women’s Library, outside London Met, 4-5pm.

Address for TWL visitors: The Women's Library, London Metropolitan University, Old Castle Street, London E1 7NT; nearest tube Aldgate East, Aldgate or Liverpool Street; open Mon to Fri 9.30am-5.30pm, Thurs until 8.00pm

KEY DATES:

• Sept 13th Selection Committee meeting to consider LSE bid for The Women’s Library; Save The Women’s Library rally to protest the meeting, meet at Holloway tube 12pm
• Sept 27th London Met Board of Governors meeting to ratify decision on bids for TWL takeover

FURTHER DETAILS:

More Information: http://savethewomenslibrary.blogspot.co.uk

Follow us on twitter: @saveTWL

NOTES TO EDITORS

The Women's Library, established in 1926, is one of the world’s foremost archival, library, and museum collections related to women’s history. A recent partnership with the Parliamentary Archives saw several of The Women's Library's items inscribed into UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register. The library is housed in a purpose-built building in East London and is part of London Metropolitan University. The collection can be consulted in its reading room Tues-Fri 9:30-5:30 and is open to all. Bring ID to register for access.
The Save The Women’s Library campaign was initiated by London Met UNISON and is led by its members at the library in collaboration with the library community. We recognise the worth of The Women's Library and want to work alongside its supporters to ensure it continues to thrive. We are campaigning to: * Keep the collection intact * Retain its expert staff and access to all  * Remain in the dedicated building on Old Castle St. 

Rhul Fem Soc @ Save the Women's Library public meeting

On July 6^th a number of RHUL FemSoc members attended the Save the Women's Library public meeting along with many other supporters and friends of the Library. Since finding out that the Women's Library was facing potential closure, RHUL FemSoc have been trying help raise awareness in support of the Save the Women's Library campaign and it was wonderful to finally meet campaigners that we had only spoken to previously via online social networking.

Before the meeting we had received the news that London Metropolitan University, who are the current owners of the library, had released the selection criteria and the list of organisations who are preparing to bid for the library.

The list of bidders consisted of:

• Senate House, University of London,
• Manchester City Council;
• London School of Economics & Political Practice, University of London
• Bodleian Libraries, Oxford University
• Warwick University
• York Saint John University
• University of York.

Some members in the audience who were from these institutions asked what they could do to ensure the bids from their institution coincided with what was best for the library. It appeared that while having the criteria as outline was useful, not knowing how much weight was being put behind each section meant that this was difficult to answer. I believe that this highlighted the problems of transparency between the library and the university.

The meeting also consisted with further campaign updates and enlightening speeches on the history of the Women's Library from staff members. Along side this, there was much discussion revolving around the fact the majority of organisations bidding were part of the elite Russell university group and that it was important that this precious collection of marginalised history remained in reach and available to people from working class backgrounds.

Jade Lori Baker, from NUS Women's committee and NCAFC, spoke on how the sale of the library was a part of a wider picture, a picture where the coalition government’s cuts to education were creating a two tier, class dividing, education system, which is seeing universities like London Met resulting to such measures and the more affluent universities prospering. There were also some opposing opinions and some individuals suggested that the Library was a national treasure and it didn’t matter what type of university owned it, just as long as the collection was kept well and in public reach.


Overall, I believe that the general consensus in the room was that the Women's Library is more than an academic asset, its a vital resource for activism and a place that has conducted essential outreach work which has helped many members of the community. Whoever takes custodianship of the library needs to see it as the historical public treasurer that is, keep the collection in the building along with the experienced staff and continue to provide opportunities for widening participation.

Royal Holloway Feminism Society is a proud supporter of this campaign and will continue help make sure that the Women's Library collection stays where it is and continues to inspire future generations.


Help us save the Women's library by spreading the word, sharing our video, signing the online Save The Women's Library petition; writing to Malcolm Gillies, Vice Chancellor of London Metropolitan University and joining the campaign! For more information please visit  www.savethewomenslibrary.blogspot.co.uk

Royal Holloway Feminism Society stand in solidarity with The Women's Library

'all the oppressed of this earth

whose dynamism and strength is stolen

for exploitation by others

and who fly when they break their chains'

The Women's Library is currently under threat, we urge feminists to rise up against this attack on women's cultural heritage: women have been hidden from history for too long. The Library provides a unique source of inspiration for women– charting decades of rebellious feminists, campaigning on issues from the vote to wages for housework. Women’s history is already marginalised, despite documenting over half the populations history. It deserves to be protected.

One of Royal Holloway's most famous students was Emily Wilding Davison, who died as a martyr to the suffrage cause attempting to display her votes for women banner on the king’s horse. Her return ticket for that day is still in the Women’s Library collection. Each of the 70,000 items holds a story. Her funeral was the only occasion Royal Holloway students were allowed at a London Suffrage outing. The Women’s Library links all our history.

In ‘A Room of one’s own’ Virginia Woolf wrote that, “Women have sat indoors all these millions of years, so that by this time the very walls are permeated by their creative force, which has, indeed, so overcharged the capacity of bricks and mortar that it must needs harness itself to pens and brushes and business and politics.” The women’s library has created a space to encourage women’s genius, and equally record it, reclaiming the anonymous women of the past. It is a space for not only for privileged women but also the marginalised; all ethnicities, all classes, all sexualities – it is an inclusive home for everyone, enabling equal access to the exploration of identity and a sense of history. This provocation comes as part of a wider attack on women's services and represents the governments complete disregard of women, threatening to render its rich resources inaccessible. Such a reduction of service will decrease widening participation that London Met strives towards. The Library functions as not only an academic source but one that is part of local community in a largely deprived area; it acts as a cultural hub.

Royal Holloway and New Bedford College, was created in 1985 when Bedford College joined with Royal Holloway College to form a new institution within the University of London. There was once Suffrage Library, run by staff and students at Bedford, and Royal Holloway was given suffrage material to potentially start our own, the library no longer exists and the collection has been eroded. Royal Holloway Feminism Society stands in solidarity with the Women's Library in its time of threat. We believe the history of our rebellious feminist forbearers must be protected. We urge you to consider our message.

Royal Holloway Feminism Society

www.savethewomenslibrary.blogspot.co.uk
Save The Women's Library Petition
Send an email to Malcolm Gillies the London Met vice chancellor

RHUL FemSoc Testimony: The Women’s Library; A Room of One's Own

By Vicky Iglikowski

When I’m feeling in need of inspiration, I set upon a journey across the District line and through the hustle of Spitalfields market to the serene sanctuary of The Women’s Library. It provides a Room of One’s Own; a space for feminist thought, academic research and a vast array of creative events.

In less than a year’s time the opening hours will be reduced from five days a week to one, unless a sponsor is found. This is an unrelenting attack on women and an area of history finally gaining strength. The previous housing of The Women’s Library has already been precarious. In its preceding guise as The Fawcett Library the contents were contained in a range of dubious places, from a pub converted into a Women’s Services House in the early 20s which suffered bomb damage, to a 25 year duration in a London Metropolitan University basement which periodically suffered flooding.


For such an important record of women’s history this is not good enough. The library encompasses a free museum with rotating exhibitions and an archive; it is the only institution of its type in England. As a resource for the history of half the population, this community service deserves to be fully government funded.

As a previous student I have used the library countless times, for academic work and personal interest, and as an archivist volunteer I have firsthand experience of how dedicated the staff truly are. The library attracts 30,000 people a year; condensing the 410 weekly visitors to a signal day would be an impossible feat, and will categorically deny people access to these records. The lists of books and archival papers are vast; collectively reaching 70,000 items. The private papers of many women who are deemed ‘important’ are stored here, as well as UNESCO supported items, with world heritage status within the suffrage collections. More interesting perhaps are the archives of many unknown women –collections of early LGBT records, disability campaigners, women from every variation of ethnic backgrounds, and every area of the political spectrum. Society minutes reveal the details of not just the leaders of movements but their average members too. The archives provide historical identities for people so often excluded from official historical discourse. The collection of zines epitomises their unorthodox approach to history, documenting women's everyday lives and explorations of self.

Academically this offers a huge resource, and whatever happens to The Women’s Library it will leave a legacy of research, much of which would not have been possible without it. The context of these cuts to services is the wider issues of London Met, having faced mass course closures as a university that is fighting to provide education to students, consisting of a larger BME student body than the entire Russell group. Fighting these closures is about fundamental access to education and its resources. However the importance of this is more than educational and greater than historical justice. The significance in its rectifying of histories patriarchal narrative lies in the present. Having a tangible history is hugely important to a sense of identity and belonging. This is what The Women’s Library has enabled for its female users; a sanctuary, a place to be accepted, and an institution that recognises the importance of women in history, and their importance right now. The library’s increasing community work allows women from economically deprived backgrounds and ethnic minorities to have an ownership over their history.

To first discover the wealth of inspiring women from the past is to be immersed in a world that is rarely acknowledged, of strong passionate women who fought for their rights and the rights of others. This campaign needs to gain momentum, it is about far more than academics; it is about accessing sources of inspiration and our right to explore our identity. It is hard to overestimate the importance of physical spaces to meet and share ideas. It is empowering. The movement for women’s history largely derived from ‘second wave’ feminism. Those fighting for academic recognition were also fighting for front line services, 24 hour childcare, refuge centres and reproductive rights; it is an intrinsically feminist issue.

We must let ourselves be inspired by our forebears to continue the fight.

Please sign the petition that was launched to Save The Women's Library