Maybe you’ve spent the afternoon wandering among the elegant stingrays at the London Aquarium and you decide to walk the long way back to the river. Or perhaps you’re supposed to be meeting a friend at Elephant & Castle, but you’ve got yourself turned around somewhere in the streets of Lambeth. Actually, we like to think that you discover her because you’re on a mission to track down a rare feminist manuscript. Because if you are looking for an important piece of feminist history (or ‘herstory’) then chances are you’re going to find it nestled among the vast collection held at The Feminist Library in London. One of only three autonomous and independent women and feminist libraries in the UK, she was founded in 1975 by a group of women and feminists – their way of consciously organising at a time when the second wave feminist movement was at its zenith. Her mission is the same now as it was then: to save and preserve women’s histories. And this feels just as relevant, urgent and important now as it did at its inception.
Funded almost entirely by donations and good will The Feminist Library found a space in London at a time before the abolition of Greater London Council, which would fund or subsidise spaces for the community. She inhabited a number of different premises shared with other feminist organisations. However for the last 32 years she has been at 5 Westminster Bridge Road, in a building that was given to the community as a 25-year ‘gift’. When the sell by date on the ‘gift’ expired (and thanks in no small part to the almost doubling of their rent from £12,000 to £30,000 per year), The Feminist Library found herself looking for a new home. An almost impossible task in a city where everyone is eternally jostling for space but - luckily for her many visitors - she’s found it in the Sojourner Truth Community Centre in Peckham. Her move is an exciting development in the library’s ‘herstory’ for a number of different reasons.
Over the years she has received many sizeable donations of books, periodicals and archival material from second wave feminists who wanted their collections (and memories) preserved. In fact one of the most common misconceptions about The Feminist Library is that she is only small, without many books or materials. In reality her collections include 7,000 books (not including the estimated 4,000 that make up recent donations still to be catalogued), 1,500 periodical titles and countless other collections from over 30 feminist organisations. All this creates a feminist utopia of books that line the walls floor to ceiling, winding their way across her 3 floors. Watching the short film made about the library (which you can find on her website), you learn that her volunteers and founding members believe feminist scholarship has often become distorted by patriarchal thinking. That academia has long been a bastion of male academics with women facing yet another fight to be heard. So the importance of a space carved out specifically for women and feminist academics cannot be underestimated. The Feminist Library collects, curates and cares for material written by women, for women and to meet the needs of women. But more than that, these books and periodicals represent the possibility of an on-going dialogue with those second wave feminists who were paving the way for new generations of feminist activists, writers and organisers.
Alongside her role in housing and preserving literature the library is also a community space where feminists, activists and community groups can meet to organise a myriad of events. The Feminist Library is proud of her role in supporting those that find themselves without a place or resources to thrive. The new space in Peckham is bigger, allowing for a more ambitious programme of events coupled with – of course – the opportunity to keep growing her collection. It also means that she can continue to provide for the students, researchers, global feminists, community groups, activists and creative organisations who find The Feminist Library an invaluable resource. Wander in on any given day and you might come across an eclectic mix of feminist yoga classes, queer improv, exhibitions, poetry readings and even drumming workshops. You’ll also meet her volunteers who comprise a cross section of people that represent a broad range of cultural backgrounds, sexualities, ages and ethnicities. Her intersectionality works with her remit - to preserve as broad a range of women’s ‘herstories’ as possible – in also attracting feminists of many different political leanings. In fact concerted efforts are made to source new publications by and for the most marginalised voices including women of colour, working class women and non-binary people as well as books from non-English speaking countries. The Feminist Library is not only welcoming she is also therefore inclusive, so should you find yourself there one sunny afternoon, know that whomever you are you will feel comfortable held in her space.
The new premises will house one of the most extensive collections of periodicals out there; some 1,500 international titles many of which are not accessible anywhere else or online. The Feminist Library also holds many first copies of books that would be difficult to find elsewhere, though one of her volunteers told us that it is the transcripts of the first Women’s Liberation Movement conferences that she is most proud of. This same volunteer also notes you feel a strong sense of pride when you first walk into the building; that the enormity of our shared feminist history and achievements is palpable right away. Nowhere else in London can you pick up an old feminist newsletter or magazine from the 1970s or 80s and experience viscerally how brave and uncompromising the feminists were who came before us. Expanding her community activity and continuing to provide a space for activists to meet will be an essential part of her move to Peckham. Her new space there is bigger and better equipped to continue her mission long into the future, even allowing her to expand into exhibiting the work of feminist artists.
The Feminist Library does need our help though. Over the coming months leading up to the move, she will be running a crowd funding campaign to help with financing her relocation to South East London. The new building is old and will need a total refit if it is to become the place where The Feminist Library can continue to thrive. Running from 16th October until 9th December 2018 she is asking for your support to help raise the £30,000 needed. All money raised will go towards fitting out the new space, moving the thousands of books and the legal costs of moving a library. Without this money and after 43 years of operation, she may have no other option but to close her doors.
A sense of feminist community is vital if we are to stay connected and part of something that can achieve real change. SheCurates believes that a resource such as The Feminist Library serves as a living ‘herstory’ and one that we have much to learn from. She provides a space for us to come together, to spread our roots and create a firm ground upon which future feminists can stand. Activism happens when we are mobilised as one collective voice with the force of the many behind us. The Feminist Library has been sending out her beacon of feminist light for almost 50 years and we hope it continues to light the path ahead of us.
To learn more about the FLA (Feminist & Women's Libraries & Archives Network UK) which The Feminist Library belongs to visit fla-network.com. Likewise she is also part of the European network WINE (Women's Information Network Europe) https://winenetworkeurope.wordpress.com/.
The Feminist Library is always on the lookout for new volunteers. If you'd like to join her team at this very exciting time, please get in touch with her fabulous Volunteers Coordinator, Katie at volunteer@feministlibrary.co.uk. Finally, to learn more about The Feminist Library visit her website http://feministlibrary.co.uk/ or tweet her @feministlibrary. The crowd funding campaign can be found here:
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/help-the-feminist-library-build-its-new-home
SheCurates.
