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The Big Move version 4.0

Nisha — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:59:51 +0000

It’s been creeping upon us for quite a while, but finally Glasgow Women’s Library is on the move for what may just be the very last time… We are packing up our papers and all our work, stacking boxes, watching the removal men lift them, and saying our farewells to Parnie Street. As we are closed for all intents and purposes over the next few weeks, here is a little peek into our Biggest Move Ever (every moment of which will be rigorously documented!).

Best laid schemes...

Empty library

State of the art security

Glad to be finished unpacking

Thank you so much to all the volunteers who are helping us with this sweaty, dusty, vital work, we couldn’t do it without you!

Flooded, but not flustered

Helen — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:24:55 +0000

A very frustrating day for all of us at the Library, after water started streaming into the office from the floors above.

Rapidly filling basins in the worst affected areas of the office

Although the library’s main collection was not affected, we had to work quickly to move GWL’s own archive materials, as well as work files and all our computer equipment, out of the office. Thanks to Hannah’s emergency planning, we were all ready to work together and quickly clear the affected areas.

Buckets and basins set out in the GWL office to catch the leaks

After having to close the Library last Friday due to the cold, the thaw has proved to be equally ‘adverse’. Pipes on the floors above, and across the entire block, froze during the cold snap, and caused flooding after this morning’s thaw. It’s not clear when the flooding at 81 Parnie Street started – unfortunately, it wasn’t until water was already pouring into our office that the pipes were disconnected from the mains. Ironically, Library staff had been in the Library over the holiday period in order to check that our own pipes had not frozen.

Buckets and basins, and plastic sheeting over the furniture

Those of you who are long time supporters of the Library may feel a sense of deja vu about all this: towards the end of our time at 109 Trongate, the rickety old building was constantly letting in water, and buckets and umbrellas were a common sight. The cause of today’s flooding should be a one off, but it highlights just how urgently our planned relocation to new premises in the Mitchell Library is needed.

A particularly surreal moment at our old premises at 109 Trongate, with golf umbrellas set up to keep drips off the photocopier

Our old building at 109 Trongate is now part of the recently opened, fully renovated 103 Trongate: Today’s flood has made us all determined to raise the funds to ensure that we can move into a fully fit-for-purpose (climate controlled, waterproof…) space.

It’s not clear how long it will take us to clear up the office and get up and running again – our priority at the moment is to ensure that both the affected materials and the office itself are properly dried out. Please check the website & blog for updates: We may have limited access to our phone and individual staff emails, so the first point of contact will be this website and our main email address: info@womenslibrary.org.uk.

Update: Progress in the Library – Re-wired and de-humidified.

Masks at AYW

Kay — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:07:43 +0000

The Aspiring Young Women (AYW) group have been considering times when they have worn a mask to cover up their true emotions. We discussed how situations make us feel and how much of our true selves we are willing to share. This brought up issues of low self-confidence in situations such as first day at secondary school and when having to show they can cope with motherhood. The group were very supportive towards each other during the discussions. By writing about their own masks in their journals, I was able to help them express themselves through using appropriate vocabulary. Some of the girls were willing to share their pieces of writing with the rest of the group.

Exhibit of the Aspiring Young Women's masks

The session was finished by the group actually creating their masks. One girl in particular represented her mask very well. She made it extremely flamboyant with feathers, glitter and bright colours. This young woman has a very loud and outgoing exterior however underneath the façade is a much quieter and conscientious person, lacking in confidence.

Work begins on GWL’s archive catalogue!

Antoinette — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:26:53 +0000

Hello, hello. I’m Antoinette from tiny, sunny Nassau, Bahamas and I’m on an exciting 2-week placement at Glasgow Women’s Library – as a part of University of Glasgow’s MSc Information Managment and Preservation (IMP) course – - Description, Cataloguing and Navigation. This is exciting Day 3! Under the great supervision of Hannah L, I’m immersed in description with respect to the ENACT Collection.

Antoinette on her cataloguing placement

Grand tidy-up

Hannah — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:25:40 +0000

Lovely clear space is emerging...

A big thank you to all who helped out with the grand Autumn tidy-up last week! I am amazed at how much we managed to do and how many random items of electrical equipment we unearthed. There is now space in which to begin listing and cataloguing the archives and library material. Hurrah!

Team B tidy-up the grey shelves

My Directorial Debut

Laura — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:06:57 +0000

In the lead up to the week beginning 14th September, a majority of the library staff referred to it as Crazy Week because one look at the library’s Google Calendar made you dizzy with the amount of things happening. Thankfully though Crazy Week didn’t live up to it’s name and turned out to be a pretty relaxed, well organised, week.

The main reason it was Crazy Week for me was because I was filming for 3 days out of the 5. Filming what? Well, we are producing a promotional DVD for our Women Make History project to try and encourage more women to get involved as tour guides and researchers. This is the first time I have undertaken any thing like this and at first was a little daunted by the role of Director – but I soon got into the swing of things and thanks to a lot of help and support from the team at Plantation Productions and with a strong team of volunteers by my side the filming is now underway.

Laura and Elaine filming for Women Make History DVD

Monday we were filming out and about in Govan, the West End and at Charing Cross. Thanks to a great team and good planning we managed to get everything filmed and finished early.

Wednesday was library filming day, and we filmed the lovely Ghazala and Vicky visiting the library for the first time and learning all about the Women Make History project. Everyone was so natural on camera and I really feel like the film is coming together.

We have one more day of filming to do now, and that is a walk from the library to the Ramshorn Kirk. We are looking for some volunteers to come forward as extras to play the parts of walk participants, so if you are free on Friday 9 October in the afternoon and would be interested in taking part, we are looking for men, women, children….even dogs….wait, no, I was warned not to work with children AND animals! Please get in touch if you would like to get involved.

Time for my Oscars speech practice run…I would really like to thank all the team that have made this happen. The staff at Plantation Productions, Elaine and Vicki – my wonderful camera and sound team, Ghazala and Vicky – the stars of the show, the Women Make History team (you know who you are) and all the library staff who have been roped in at one stage or another to help out.

The DVD will be launched at a Paths for All event next year, news of which will follow.

Doors Open Day, 19 September 2009

Hannah — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:35:35 +0000

Doors Open Day on Saturday was great fun. Over the course of the morning we had about ninety visitors, old and young, men and women.

Many people dropped by to see the library

I had prepared a small exhibition of some of the items from our collections, including an umbrella stand that had been painted by Suffragettes whilst they were imprisoned, anti-Suffragette postcards and second-wave feminist journals, badges and fanzines.

Hannah Frank‘s distinctive black and white prints had recently been donated to the library by her niece, Fiona, and these were on display. A few books and the architectural plans for the conversion of the Anderston section of the Mitchell Library were also available to view.

Preparing for Doors Open Day

Most people had never heard of the library or visited before, so it was exhilarating to talk about the purpose of the library, our work and to explain our vision for a new space. Everyone I spoke to was enthusiastic about the history of women in general and asked good questions; some people wanted to know more about voluntary work with the archive, others were interested in our lifelong learning programme, or attending a walking history tour. A couple of people were particularly interested in knitting and one woman walked in with a donation of 1930s and 40s Vogue knitting patterns!

Next year we should be in a position to put on a bigger exhibition and we will open all day – who knows maybe we’ll be welcoming people into our new space in the Mitchell!

A big thank you to all who came along – it was lovely to meet you all. Keep in touch.

Knitting Patterns. These were kindly donated by Nance Tosh

10k Triumph!

Laura — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:03:44 +0000

So, the 10k crept up on us a lot quicker than I had expected, and with all the training and fundraising that took place on the actual morning of the run I felt less than confident. Thankfully, with the help of a wonderful team, lots of encouragement, and pure adrenaline, the race was run – and I found it a lot easier than expected. So, on that note – I encourage anyone who is even thinking about running a 10k to go for it. The atmosphere, encouragement from people on the sidelines, and people in the race – not to mention friends and family – all makes it a really satisfying experience. And if like me you have never run before (well apart from the small amount of training I did in the weeks leading up to the run) you will feel such a sense of achievement afterwards and be signing up for the next one as quickly as possible.

Some shots of the team after the event…

Mucky Pups

Laura — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 11:13:19 +0000

Well the Halloween Party was a success. Lots of women came along and took part in the fun and games so I thought a couple of photos would be called for.

Adele trying to get a treacle scone without using her hands, it’s a mucky job but someones got to do it.

There was a really spooky atmosphere in the library that day.

“I vant to drink your tea!”

And finally the scary spook of the south and sixties chick louisa.

Hello to all

Laura — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 11:23:14 +0000

Well I have been at the Women’s Library now for just over one month and I thought it about time I introduce myself to the wonderful world of blogging. To those that haven’t met me yet, I am Laura Dolan, the new Lifelong Learning Assistant. I started on the 9 August and have been a busy bee ever since. I am now getting to terms with everything that the Lifelong Learning Assistant has to do, although I would love to fast forward to the day that it is second nature to me at time – then again, the learning process is all part of the fun.

I have to say I am so happy to be working with the Library. The people here are all so amazing and I feel really lucky to be part of the team. My last job was with a project called Universal Comedy that runs comedy workshops for people with ill health. I ran the pilot project and it was, as you can imagine, a real laugh at times! This has spurred a real interest in comedy and introduced me to the world of thinking about life and situations with a comedy outlook – so if anyone has an interest in comedy, whether it be writing it, performing it, knowing more about the history of it, please get in touch with me as I am keen to do some work with women in comedy.

I went on the Women Make History West End Heritage Walk on Sunday as part of the Doors Open weekend, and although it was a little wet towards the end that didn’t stop my enjoyment of the day – a really interesting walk with fantastic tour guides who were really enthusiastic and knowledgable. I have to say to anyone who hasn’t yet had the chance to go on this walk, make sure you get along to one, it will really open your eyes to what a wealth of women there were/are in Glasgow :) The pic below was taken by Syma at the end of the tour, I was just a little wet but very happy.

If you are interested in being part of the Women Make History team then you should come along to our relaunch on Wednesday 3 October at 6.30pm. Let me know if you are interested. I am at the moment working on promoting the Autumn 2007 Lifelong Learning Programme, please check out what’s happening on the website. I am really enjoying meeting all the fantastic women who use the library and hope to meet more of you soon.