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. 

Help save The Women's Library

 ... "Because well behaved women rarely make history."

The Women's Library is the most extensive women's history collection in the UK. It is currently housed in a purpose-built building in East London, which campaigners fought hard to have built to home the collection in 2002. Over the past 10 years it has grown from strength-to-strength and now functions as a cultural centre hosting events, exhibitions, talks and provides local community groups and organisations a space to hire. Its staff have worked tirelessly to build and draw new audiences to the materials which have been gathered over the past 86 years and which continue to be. The building is vibrant and accessible, a cultural centre and a focal point for activism - it is truly the kind of home that women's history, so often forgotten about, deserves. However, this cultural centre is now under threat.

London Metropolitan University, the current custodians of the library, have decided that they can no longer run the collection, and have opened the bidding process for a new institution to take over the running of the library. However, they have not made the retention of its East London home an essential part of the selection criteria, and this means that the institution that takes over the running of the collection could move it to a much less accessible location, destroying all of the community links to the collection which have been built over the last 10 years. Staff at the library are clear that this is not what they want to happen, and is not what is best for the continuation of such an important collection.

The following is a list of bidders for the library, announced recently:

• Senate House, University of London (Christine Wise, Historic Collections and Head of Special Collections: christine.wise@london.ac.uk)
• Manchester City Council (libraries@manchester.gov.uk)
• London School of Economics, University of London (Elizabeth Chapman, Director of Library Services: e.chapman@lse.ac.uk )
• Warwick University (Robin Green, Librarian: robin.green@warwick.ac.uk )
• University of York (Stephen Town, Director of Information and University Librarian: stephen.town@york.ac.uk)

We're asking feminists, historians (and anyone else!) connected to these institutions – be you students, alumni or staff – to write to your head of library services to ask that they consider including the retention of the building as part of their bid. You can use the example letter below as a starting point, but personalised letters are best, so try to include your connection to the institution, and any personal comments that you might have. If you receive a response, please forward it to savetwl86@gmail.com.

To Whom it May Concern,

I am writing with regards to your institution's bid to take over custodianship of The Women's Library collection.

The “Save The Women's Library” Campaign was initiated by staff, users and supporters of The Women's Library when it became clear that London Metropolitan University had made the decision to divest custodianship of the collection to another institution. The aims of the campaign have been as follows: to keep the collection intact; to retain its expert staff; and to remain in the dedicated building in East London where it has been housed since 2002. The campaign are delighted that a number of bids for the collection, including your own, mean that the collection is highly likely to remain in tact. However, we are very concerned that London Metropolitan University have not made the retention of the dedicated building an essential part of the bid.

The collection currently housed in a purpose-built building in East London, which campaigners fought hard to have built to home the collection in 2002. Over the past 10 years it has grown from strength-to-strength and now functions as a cultural centre hosting events, exhibitions, talks and provides local community groups and organisations a space to hire. Its staff have worked tirelessly to build and draw new audiences to the materials which have been gathered over the past 86 years and which continue to be. The building is vibrant and accessible, a cultural centre and a focal point for activism - it is truly the kind of home that women's history, so often forgotten about, deserves. In the run-up to a major suffrage anniversary in 2018, The Women’s Library should be looking to thrive, not just survive. Staying in its building, near its audiences, with its staff, offers a sound basis for doing this.

I am therefore writing to encourage you to consider the retention of the building as part of your institution's bid for the collection. I am sure that staff at the Library would be happy to speak with you personally about why they feel the retention of the building is so important.

I look forward to receiving your response.

Yours faithfully,

Results from the RHUL Student Parents and Carers Questionnaire 2012

This April we started a Better Care to Learn Campaign as part of our Royal Holloway Women Against Cuts campaign as it had been highlighted that single mothers were going to be hugely effected by the governments cuts . We created a questionnaire for the student parents and carers of Royal Holloway, University of London to get an idea of what studying at Royal Holloway was like for them.

We wanted to find out how these students coped with the complicated balance of studying and home life, as they were under represented in our Students Union. This is not unusual - demanding commitments make it difficult to engage in extra-curricular activities. 


To make sure we were including all students at Royal Holloway, we released a questionnaire which was sent to all departments and forwarded to their students. What was revealed was a clearer picture of the demands of a Student Parent and Carer at Royal Holloway, the time management required and also the essential support of an extended family. Here is a general overview of the questionnaire.


All of these answers are anonymous. If you are or have been a Student Parent and Carer at Royal Holloway, University of London, and would like to contribute and answer a questionnaire, please email rhulparentscarers@gmail.com and we'll send you a copy for you to complete in your own time. Your answers will be anonymous too. A huge thank you very much to all of our respondents for having taken the time to answer this questionnaire.

General Overview of Results: About the Students Parents and Carers, and their Dependents 

• All of the respondents were female
• All primarily parents
• Aged anywhere between 21 and 47 (average age 29 years)
• Their children were aged anywhere between 18months and 10years (average age 7years)
• 40% of the respondents had more than one child
• 60% were married or engaged

About their studies

• They had chosen Royal Holloway for it's reputation and proximity to their homes and schools
• They were in all years of Undergraduate study: 1st, 2nd and 3rd year.
• They spent on average 50 hours a week looking after their dependents, and 40 hours a week on their course (varies according to essays due)
• They all relied on their extended family to help looking after the children
• The younger Student Parents and Carers were worried about repaying their Student Loans
• The older the children and the more settled the Student was (married, owning their home, older) the more able the Student to cope with the complicated study/home balance. Even so, they had to make sacrifices to other areas of their life such as socialising, and the holiday periods were extremely busy for them.
• For the other  younger Students, younger children combined with the absence of a supportive partner added considerably to the stress of studying. For these Students an online support network would be very useful for communication with others in the same situation.
• 80% had thought of leaving University. They stayed due to the drive to be able to get a good job after University to provide for their children or due to approachable tutors and an interesting course.
• The stresses of their commitments had lead to weight gain, panic attacks, fatigue and poor immunity to colds such as tonsillitis.

Support on Campus

• None had used Little Echoes, the on-site creche, because it was too full when they applied. None needed an on-site creche as they had found alternative arrangements.

• None had need for a Breakfast Club on campus, as their children were too old or being taken care of elsewhere.

• The lecturers and tutors gave the impression of having no time, which lead to the Students feeling uncomfortable about bringing up their situation if they needed extra support. However, a few lecturers and tutors were very approachable and this was clearly appreciated by the Student Parents and Carers.

• The older Students who appeared more settled relied on their lecturers and tutors only for academic support, and some were in the 20% who had never even mentioned their dependents to the academic staff.

• The younger Students however wanted to be able to approach their lecturers for support, advice or even guidance to support services in relation to their academic course, their time commitments and their health. For these Student Parents and Carers, an online network was essential, as were approachable staff.

• The early release of timetables for course choices, and the accessibility of course content such as lecture slides online were very important in facilitating their studies.

Contraception: Action on Access

Today, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sexual and Reproductive Health published it's report Healthy Women, Health Lives? The cost of curbing access to contraception services. Their inquiry found that there were significant restrictions on access to contraception services in many parts of the country, meaning that some groups of women – particularly, women over the age of 25 and women who were away from their borough of residence – found access to contraception difficult. They also found that in some areas, the number of available methods of contraception were restricted. The report recommends that any restrictions on the basis of age, residence or method should be removed as a matter of urgency – all women should have access to the full range of contraceptives and contraceptive services.

A thread that runs throughout the report is concern that “efficiency savings” within the NHS are leading to contraception services being cut, and to restrictions in provision. This is despite the fact that investment in contraception services has enormous financial benefits in reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies – it's estimated that for every £1 spent on contraception services, £12.50 is saved. Restrictions on the basis of residence (e.g. only allowing women who live within a certain area to access contraception services there) are likely to be financial, due to the way services are funded on a geographical basis. Other restrictions, such as only allowing the less expensive varieties of the contraceptive pill to be prescribed by clinicians, have a very obvious financial rather than clinical motive.

Additionally, services are being shut or redesigned with restricted access, so that some women are unable to access specialist Contraception and Sexual Health (CaSH) services, and can only access contraception through their GP. This will have the biggest impact on young women, women from ethnic minorities, and women from deprived areas, who are the greatest users of specialist CaSH services. The report is clear that the programme of NHS efficiency savings is directly resulting poorer access to contraception services for women.

There is also significant concern that the new commissioning arrangements being brought in with the Health and Social Care Bill will have a negative impact on access to contraception services. The report found that clinicians felt that the way sexual health services will be commissioned under the new arrangements is still very unclear, and this lack of clarity over the future was limiting the scope for improving services. This is particularly the case because a crucial policy document, which was supposed to be published last year, has still not been published.
Although not directly mentioned in the report, a further concern on the future of CaSH services is the Health and Social Care Bill's provision for the entrance of provide providers into the NHS. Virgin Care has already shown a significant interest in providing CaSH services, and has taken over contracts for the provision of CaSH services in a number of areas (Virgin sexual health services – you couldn't make it up!). The types of rationing and restriction of contraception services that we are already seeing may become more widespread as services are taken over by private providers whose number one priority will be making the most profit possible. This will mean that they may well only provide what they are contractually obliged to, rather than what is best for women, and decisions such as the type of contraception to offer may be increasingly based on cost rather than need.

Those campaigning for access to contraception (and that, by the way, should be everyone campaigning for the rights of women!) must watch these new developments very closely in order to make sure that access to contraception is not further eroded by cuts, commissioning changes, and private providers.

RHUL Feminism Society believe that contraception is a feminist issue. We want to see “Action on Access” to increase access to contraception for all women. We've recently blogged on the Save the Children campaign “Girl Power Saves Lives” which illustrates how access to family planning is a crucial part of saving children's lives. We also blogged a few months ago about the experiences of some of our members in accessing emergency contraception – if you are are from the local area and have any stories, we'd love to hear them.

Whilst we're on the topic of contraception, the British Pregnancy Advisory Services are currently running an absolutely brilliant scheme for residents of Greater London, where, after a quick chat on the phone, they will send you a FREE morning after pill (emergency contraception pill) can keep in case you need it. We think that this is fantastic, and the kind of innovative and accessible scheme that women need. Thanks, BPAS!

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

Demo2012

On the 21^st of November, students will once again march in London to protest at education cuts and reforms. Royal Holloway Feminism Society will be marching against the devastating impact of this government's education policy – and of wider austerity measures - on women.

Research has shown that women will bear the brunt of government cuts, with a report finding that 73% of the savings proposed in the 2011 budget will come from women. Education reforms will have a number specific negative effects on women students. The cutting of Educational Maintenance Allowance and the introduction of fees for further education for students over the age of 24 will negatively impact women who wish to return to education, for example after having children. The gender pay gap means that women will take longer to repay loans taken out for further and higher education. The most drastic cuts to higher education funding have been made to the arts and humanities, subjects which are studied by greater numbers of women than men. Student parents will be particularly hard hit: the increase in fees, combined with cuts to benefits, will seriously affect mothers in education – the NUS Women's Campaign found that 78% of student parents claimed some kind of benefit in order for them to be able to study. There is concern that reductions in government funding to higher education institutes may lead to institutions making savings by services, such as student welfare services and childcare facilities, which are relied upon by student parents. Wider cuts to public services will leave women “filling the gaps” in caring for children and relatives, leaving them much less able to pursue education.

We'll be marching on November 21^st – will you?

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

RHUL Feminism Society & Royal Holloway Women Against Cuts

A couple of weeks ago Royal Holloway Feminism society voted to be officially against public sector cuts. The society also voted for Royal Holloway Women Against Cuts, (a group campaigning against gender discriminating public sector cuts, which was previously a women's sister group of RH anti cuts alliance, and RHUL Fem Soc.), to become an official campaign associated with the Feminism Society organised solely by women but open to all.

What does this mean? It means that Royal Holloway Women Against Cuts will become a more stable campaign. Like Fem Soc's other Campaign - Zero Tolerance, it will be associated Fem Soc, however anyone who cares about the campaign can get involved. It also makes more sense having this type of connection than having two septate campaigns on campus that are both campaigning against gender discriminatory cuts.

Organised solely by women but open to all? Originally Royal Holloway Women Against Cuts was set up because there was a need for a space for women to get together talk about cuts effecting women and and organise ways to campaign. In order to keep that sense of “women organising women” but at the same to include other genders that want to get involved, it was voted that the campaign would be organised by women but open to all. 

So please don't be put off by the name Royal Holloway Women Against Cuts. Think of it as Royal Holloway Students against the gender discriminating cuts … but shorter! There's a load of things we want to do this year, a few of them being campaigning around how cuts effecting students who are also carers and cuts that are effecting women’s mental health and safety. So please get involved! If you want to know more or if you have any other ideas please visit the blog www.rhwaca.blogspot.com or drop us an email at rhwaca@gmail.com

by Susuana Antubam