I choose the Glasgow Women’s Library as organization for my placement due to my research interest during my studies. My Bachelor-thesis engaged with the Women’s Movement in America during the 1960s. As it was mainly dominated by white middle- and upper class women, working class and especially black and other minority women were excluded. Furthermore they also faced difficulties in the male-dominated black-liberation movement and therefore carried – as Bell Hooks calls it – a double burden: being female and being black.

My Master thesis engaged with discrepancies in political participation of young men and women. Here I analyzed two different parties and concluded that instead of sexist stereotypes and ideological prejudices, structural difficulties based upon centuries upon centuries of patriarchal party politics are the main barrier for female participation.

Therefore the approach of the women’s library interested me: emancipation through education and creativity. Developing confidence in a safe environment but also making space for inspiration and self-defined research activities. The political significance of this form of encouragement and the resulting development of active citizenship should not be underestimated.

As outlined in former blogs on the GWL website, I worked on two main projects. One of them was to research and contact women’s libraries all over Europe to establish a partnership and enable us to exchange information etc. We have contacted them and received already some feedback, which I am finally going to file and I hope that somebody will be able to take over, deepen the contact and establish a sisterhood – partnership.

My second project was to prepare and establish a digital oral history resource. I managed to transcribe quite a lot of interviews that have been conducted. Eleftheria, one of our volunteers is now taking over and she is going to filter interesting parts of the interviews, process the extracts and prepare them for publication on our new upcoming website.

Apart from these two fields, I also worked at reception once a week, helped out on exhibition stands, went with Morag to a couple of events and visited groups that are working on their own women’s history projects.

Most importantly though was to experience the day-to-day activities of the women working and volunteering in the Glasgow Women’s Library. The influence of their feminist values underlies their work and social interactions. This has left a deep impact on me personally and I believe it will also have an impact on my future research.

It was interesting to engage with a more open – not overly structured group of colleagues. Which – to be honest – I found very challenging at the beginning. From my former work experience in Germany, I was used to a more defined and maybe also more narrowed, top-down structure. So I found it difficult to orientate myself at the beginning, but eventually found it very refreshing. I now feel enabled to see office structures from a different angle and hope that I can make use of this experience in future jobs. Furthermore I have developed more confidence in an English speaking work- environment and improved my language skills once again, thanks to “the word of the day” :-)

One of the things that struck me most (continuous astonishment!!) was the way women are treated here. The incredible positive approach towards women with very diverse backgrounds, the focus on creating a welcoming and safe atmosphere and the effect of highlighting the positive features of individual women was overwhelming and very inspiring.

Thanks a lot to all of you who are involved in the Glasgow Women’s Library, especially the staff but also the volunteers and numerous visitors.

It was really great meeting all of you and I hope we will keep in touch! xx

My aim is to acquire information about other Women’s Libraries within Europe, which work beyond normal library activities. I am looking for libraries that, similar to us provide a number of opportunities including helping women with their reading and writing, a wide range of creative courses and events and numerous projects alongside normal day to day activities.

So far I have found 143 libraries which I have categorized into Governmental Institutions, Academic and Public Libraries – specializing on their archives and the most exiting one: Independent Women’s Libraries.

From these 143 libraries I filtered out 49, which might be interesting for the Glasgow Women’s Library. These decisions are based upon location, activities beyond collections and archives as well as interesting subjects and specializations.

The countries I have found range over all of the European Union. Here is a wee list for you, to get an idea: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland and here in the UK. Exciting, isn’t it?? ?

So keep your fingers crossed that some libraries I have contacted get back to me and we can expand our aims and objectives through mutual exchange!

Best Wishes!

Kerstin

Elaine with her daughter's copy of The Economist

GWL was at the Dundee Women’s Festival in March, organising workshops to complement our mobile exhibition “Between Future and Past”. At the Women’s History Bring and Tell workshops in the afternoon, Elaine told us about her admiration for her daughter, and Sheila brought some beautiful photographs of her mother as a young woman when she worked in the Dundee Jute Mills.

Sheila with pictures of her mother

Her mother started working there when she was 12, when some children went to school in the morning and then worked in the Jute Mills in the afternoon. We talked about how difficult life was for women then, how things have changed (or not!) and about some of the pressures facing young women today.

In the evening a showing of the F Word provoked some lively discussion. We asked the women what they would campaign for now and the new campaign “demands” included “Freedom for young girls – they don’t have to wear pink or play with Barbies”and “Freedom from stereotypes”. This was a great workshop and would have gone on much longer if the building hadn’t closed!

Some of the group visiting the library

Although they have now stopped for a summer break, the group will be getting together to join the WEA Clydebank group for a showing of the film You Play Your Part at The Hub community centre in Clydebank on 25th May. You Play Your Part was produced by film-maker Kirsten MacLeod, who worked in collaboration with women from Govan as they reflected on their lives by the river Clyde.

Launching our zines and satellite collections in Dumfries, with Anne Rinaldi from Dumfries and Galloway libraries

During March I delivered a collection to Inverness Women’s Aid and to the Ewart library in Dumfries. We have also gathered a collection of graphic novels and zines by women writers and illustrators. This collection is going to be travelling around libraries in Dumfries and Galloway over the next few months before returning to GWL. It includes work by Claire Bretecher, Posy Simmonds, Marjane Satrapi and many more. It’s great to see the collection out and about all over Scotland. We’re looking forward to installing more satellite collections in new locations and bringing the library to more women in Scotland.

Cutting the 100th anniversary cake

As part of our activities around International Women’s Day, Nisha and I were invited to Dunoon to deliver the F Word workshop at an event for the Engender Women into Public Life project in Argyle and Bute.

Women into Public Life aims to support women in the Argyle and Bute area in having their voices heard and engaging in politics locally and nationally. An event was held where local people could come along, participate in workshops and find out more about the project and about Glasgow Women’s Library. There was also a delicious celebration cake to mark the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day.

We asked people to describe what feminism meant to them and showed them the F Word DVD, where a group of young women explore feminism, it’s history and what it means for them today.

The F Word workshop

We had lots of interesting reactions and comments, including “Promote feminism awareness for men!” and praise for the F Word film, the event organisation and the food! Thanks to Lorna Alquist for inviting us out and thanks to all the participants who made their way through the spring blizzards to come along…

12 busy bees working all on their own little projects buzz in and out of the office, pollinating the world with feminist ideas – teaching and supporting women, conducting seminars, creating exhibitions, doing historical walks, holding speeches and attending events. Then they come back and without further ado they buzz away again.

I also flew (via train), to Dundee and Dumbarton – installing an exhibition and helping out at a stand for the International Women’s Day. Both new experiences for me and great fun! My own little project for the next three months engages with the search for more feminist beehives in Europe. So far I found already loads of them, which is not only exiting but also extremely motivating!!

But the Glasgow hive could not be kept alive without the load of voluntary bees and visitors who also buzz in and out and create this amazing women’s space! Every day I meet different people and see new faces, which makes the Glasgow Women’s Library such an interesting, diverse and creative place.

Meeting so many inspiring women, finding loads of new books and authors, having great conversations and discussions and learning, learning, learning so many new things makes already my first jar of honey – with a lot more to be expected!!!

Having said this – an encouraging *Bzzz* to the team and everybody else!

Cheers!! Kerstin

A lot has changed over the course of 2010. We’re in new premises, thankfully waterproof and, even in the past month’s cold weather, staying above freezing (we have Eddie in the Mitchell basement to thank for that). But the move to 15 Berkeley Street, into the old Anderston Library space at the Mitchell, was rather more abrupt than we had ever planned, and we’re not yet in the purpose-built home we’ve been working towards since moving out of 109 Trongate in 2006.

That space is now a part of the 103 Trongate visual arts complex, and 81 Parnie Street is due to be renovated by Wasps Studios. Our intention, ever since the 103 Trongate development was announced and we were kindly offered the Anderston space by the Mitchell Library management, was to do the same with this space. We – Sue in particular, as our Strategic Development Manager – have been working with Gareth Hoskins Architects to undertake feasibility studies and Stage D planning for the renovation of the Anderston Library space. The plans included raising the ceiling and adding a mezzanine, essentially increasing the floorspace by 50%, and opening up the back of the space to build a glass-fronted office space. They also looked at crucial accessibility issues, and included lift access to the main floor and the mezzanine, as well as a disabled toilet. There was also space for a small kitchen area – just as crucial to the Library, as anyone who’s spent time with us can tell you: we and our learners and visitors all need our tea!

As the planning progressed, Sue and Adele, supported by the GWL staff and volunteer team, have worked incredibly hard to raise the funds for this renovation. As a result, we’ve raised money with grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund (for the archive space and, of course, Hannah the Archivist), from the Robertson Trust, the Third Sector Fund and more.

We’ve also raised funds from you, our supporters, with the Women on the Shelf initiative as well as one-off fundraisers like our ‘Auction of Pleasures’ and the recent GWL Winter Raffle. This support has been even more gratifying than the major grants, because it confirms that the Library is as important to you as it is to us, and shows us that our ambitions for the future of the Library are built on solid foundations.

But the simple fact is that this a very difficult time to be raising money. The financial crisis – crises – of the past few years, combined with the subsequent political backlash and the way in which the current Government has chosen to respond, has left the public and voluntary sector across the country under pressure. The perception is that belts must be tightened, costs cut, regardless of how this impacts on those who are most vulnerable. For an organisation like the Library, which has never been easy to pigeonhole, it is all too easy to find oneself on the wrong lists when it comes to fundraising.

It is ironic, then, that the Library has continued to build its services and reach out to more and more women, both in Glasgow and across Scotland. It could have been possible, over the past year, for us to get bogged down in crisis after crisis, whether bailing out water from our office, or scrambling to prepare for a move into a space that even the most optimistic of us would struggle to describe as ‘fit for purpose’. There have been times when it’s felt like all we have done is fight fire after fire (thankfully, never literally). But looking back over 2010, it’s clear that we are better than that.

Despite the frequent hiatus – through flood, flitting and frost – our learning programs continue to grow. From the immensely popular launch of Jackie Kay’s Red Dust Road to the many women accessing our literacy project, from the women’s history workshops held in Wigtown, Inverness and Dundee, to the oral history project working with older migrant women in Pollokshields, to the young girls combining creative writing and all-action assault course trips in Glenburn – the Library is reaching more women than ever. We continue to work in partnership with national and local organisations, universities, colleges and community centres across Glasgow and Scotland, bringing both our experience and our aspirations for women in all walks of life.

And with the move to 15 Berkeley Street, our collection is starting to come out of the boxes we’ve had in stacks 5 high since 2006. Wendy the Librarian has been readying the shelves, and we hope to start lending books very soon. Meanwhile, Hannah has been opening up the archive for more and more researchers, turning the taped up boxes into a living, working archive once more. The collections team has grown, with more volunteers being trained, joining the volunteers who help us on the reception ‘front line’ as well as those who tutor with the ALN project. And our newly visible location in the Mitchell Library building has shown a marked increase in the number of people entering our doors – many of whom have never found GWL before (and if you haven’t yet, do come and visit us at 15 Berkeley Street!).

At the same time, it’s frustrating to still have two thirds of our collection in storage in the basement of Hillhead Library, and to have no proper disabled access (not to mention no toilet!). We know that it’s frustrating for you, as well, and we’re still working, both as an organisation and with our colleagues in Glasgow Life and Glasgow City Council, to improve the situation.

It could be tempting to batten down the hatches, to cut back on what we do, to stick to the safe paths and projects, keep our collection in boxes and never venture out of Glasgow. But it’s not in our nature to do so, and would go against the guiding principles we work by.

Glasgow Women’s Library will be 20 this year: since 1991 we have been both a voice for Scotland’s women and a place where thousands of women have found their own voice. From a wholly voluntary organisation we have grown into a 12-strong staff team, supported by many more volunteers. Our collection has grown, too: what once fit in a Garnethill shopfront now fills more than 500 metre-long boxes. The range and scope of our learning opportunities has expanded, but at their core the same principles can be found.

The Library is a home for women’s histories and, we believe, their futures. The Library is words, written and spoken, recorded and remembered. It is tangible objects that illuminate history, like the umbrella stand painted by imprisoned suffragettes, and it is the intangible ripple effect of empowering women to take control of their own lives. The Library is not easily contained, despite the constraints that have been placed on women’s voices over the years.

We don’t know what 2011 holds for us. Rather than making resolutions in the New Year, we will simply say: We are resolved. We know that it won’t be easy, but we are working towards a fully sustainable future for the Library, and for Scotland’s women.

With the prevailing weather conditions during the weeks before christmas, our planned celebration and book launch for the Glenburn Girls group looked a bit touch and go. However, on Wednesday 22nd December Nisha and I, Renfrewshire libraries staff and a host of aunts, grannies, mums and dads, big sisters, baby brothers and friends did manage to make it through the snow and ice to Glenburn Learning centre in Paisley.
The girls have been meeting since January 2010 and with the support of the national lifelong learning programme and local volunteers, have been writing poems and stories and developing their skills and confidence through outdoor activities and drama workshops.

They called themselves the Wacky Writers and compiled and published a book of “poems, stories and random writings”. Jill McKee from Renfrewshire libraries, who have supported the project and provided a venue for the girls to meet, presented the girls with a gift and copies of the publication to take home to their friends and family. For most of the girls this is the first time they have ever been published. A copy of the book will be available at all Renfrewshire libraries and in GWL’s archive.

We asked the girls what they felt the group had done for them and this is a little of what they said…
“I came to the group ’cause there is not much else to do..it is sorta fun and I get to see other people and it’s good for your writing and reading skills…”
“The club has made me read more..I never used to enjoy reading but now I kind of do and I like to write stories..”
“I really enjoyed participating in the obstacle course..hopefully I will continue to read and write more and more”
“I’ve enjoyed working with people of my own age on something that people think is boring but when you do it with your mates it’s fun..I have learned a lot ..and I have made really good friends..”

This was a lovely way to end the working year and end this particular project – Nisha and I really enjoyed meeting the girls’ families and friends and appreciated the effort they had made to get there. Well done to all the girls. It’s been great fun to work with this group – my Wednesday afternoons will seem very quiet from now on!

I started with Glasgow Women’s Library around February/March 2010 after I heard about them from a friend. I wanted to gain experience in working in an environment that I was studying towards. I also have a passion for women’s history for I feel they only get small recognition throughout historical teachings. Much of history is from a male perspective and women have played an active role behind these men but no one really knows about them.

At the moment I help the National Lifelong Learning team, from helping to produce leaflets to transcribing oral testimonies – the latter I love doing. I have also become great friends with the guillotine but this is only because of the fantastic events, open days and seminars that the Library has run, to let people know what we are doing. I will be heading down to Wigtown on the 28th September to help with the library’s “Her-story” workshop and road-show at the Wigtown Book Festival fringe and I am looking forward to it very much.

Geraldine, NLLL volunteer