The Feminist Library is a special collection and archive of materials related to feminist literature and activism in London and the wider UK, including books, poetry pamphlets, and periodicals. Since 2020, the library is located in the

Sojourner Truth Sojourner Truth (; born Isabella Bomefree; November 26, 1883) was an American Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist and activist for African-American civil rights, women's rights, and Temperance movement, alcohol temperance. Truth was ...

Community Centre,

Peckham Peckham ( ) is a district in south-east London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon place name meaning the vi ...

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

History

Women's Research and Resources Centre

The library was founded as the Women's Research and Resources Centre in 1975 by a group of women, concerned about the future of the Fawcett Library, to ensure that the history of the

women's liberation movement The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism. It emerged in the late 1960s and continued till the 1980s, primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which resulted in g ...

survived. The founders included feminist academics Diana Leonard and Leonore Davidoff.

2003 crisis

The library faced a financial crisis in 2003 when

Lambeth Council Lambeth London Borough Council, which styles itself Lambeth Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Lambeth in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of the 32 in London. The council has been under Labour ...

substantially increased the rent on the building. Four years later, in 2007, the management committee called an emergency meeting as a final attempt to gather support. The meeting was well attended and the library was saved, although it still struggles , depending on grants to survive.

Librarians for Tomorrow

In January 2010, the library announced that it had received a grant from Awards for All, which it intended to use to train volunteers in radical librarianship, using the library itself as a resource. In March 2010, fifteen volunteers were chosen from many applicants and they began working at the library in April 2010. One of the trainees began writing an anonymous blog about her experiences. Opening hours had increased from 2013 to 2014 but remained dependent on the availability of volunteers. In 2015 the library celebrated its 40th anniversary. By 2018 it was open afternoons or evenings from Tuesday to Saturday.

Sojourner Truth Resource Centre, 2020 - present

The Feminist Library opened in the Sojourner Truth Resource Centre in Peckham in 2020.

Collection

The library started as a small collection of contemporary material, but is now considered to be the most significant library of feminist material in England. , the collection included some 7,500 books, of which around 5,000 are non-fiction, 500 poetry publications, and 1,500 periodical titles, many self-published, taking about 85 metres of shelving. There is also a large number of pamphlets, held at the

Bishopsgate Institute Bishopsgate Institute is a cultural institute in the Bishopsgate area east of the City of London. The institute was established in 1895. It offers a cultural events programme, courses for adults, historic library and archive collections, and a ...

Poetry and fiction

The amount of poetry and fiction in the library is unusual for a special collection focused on a political movement. The reason for this is that the library wanted to ensure individual women were represented as part of their liberation, as explained by Gail Chester, a member of the library's management committee, in an interview with Anne Welsh in 2007.

References

External links

Feminist Library websiteFeminist Library catalogueAdventures of a Radical Feminist Librarian
, written by one of the library's volunteers. {{Authority control Feminism in England Women's studies 1975 establishments in England 1975 in London Libraries established in 1975 Women in London Libraries in the London Borough of Southwark