Glasgow Women’s Library : ‘Women on the Shelf’
February 23, 2009
What have women ever done for Scotland?
Nothing! Or at least that’s the conclusion that we might draw if we look around our cities and towns. Our great men are celebrated and commemorated everywhere – in street names, buildings, civic squares and statues. So where are Scotland’s great women?
Glasgow Women’s Library is aiming to redress this balance through its new ‘Women on the Shelf’ fundraising initiative.
Glasgow Women’s Library is no ordinary library. For 18 years, GWL has had two main aims: to recover, uncover and collect materials that celebrate the lives, histories and achievements of women in Scotland; and to deliver essential services that encourage and inspire a diverse range of women. With its collection of archive materials and artefacts, as well as a lending library collection of around 20,000 volumes, it is unique in Scotland – a hidden treasure and a real Scottish success story.
Set up in 1991, GWL has developed from a small group with no funding and solely reliant on volunteers, into a well-respected, professional organisation running several innovative projects and employing 10 workers. As well as boasting its collection of materials, GWL provides a programme of Lifelong Learning events, courses and activities, an Adult Literacy project and dedicated Black and Minority Ethnic Women’s project.
Glasgow Women’s Library will be relocating to its own fully accessible premises within Glasgow’s prestigious Mitchell Library in 2010, when it also aims to achieve accreditation as Scotland’s National Women’s Library, with its library, archive and collection of artefacts all housed in refurbished premises of excellence for all its users.
GWL’s committed workers and volunteers are working incredibly hard to raise the £1.5 million needed for the refurbishment costs, and they have already secured £300,000 from private funds and charitable trusts. But they want to make sure that as many people as possible across Scotland feel an ownership of the new ‘Women’s Library of Scotland’.
This is where the ‘Women on the Shelf’ initiative comes in as it enables individuals and organisations to sponsor a Women’s Library section, shelf or book, with every sponsor being acknowledged in the new Women’s Library premises and every penny going towards the refurbishment fund. This will enable GWL to secure this invaluable resource for future generations. GWL needs you to play your part!
For £10 you can sponsor an individual book and your donation will be recorded on the GWL website and in an Ex Libris.
For £100 you can sponsor a shelf, with your donation recorded in our new refurbished Library.
For £1,000 you (or your group, organisation or business) can sponsor a complete Women’s Library section. The Library will have over 100 sections reflecting a range of key issues focussing on women and, as a major donor, your name will be recorded in the very fabric of the new ‘Women’s Library of Scotland’ premises.
From Architecture to Violence Against Women, from Suffragettes to Cyber-feminism – the shelves and sections can also, if you wish, be dedicated to a woman of your choice, building a living, working tribute to the great women in Scotland, whether that’s someone from the past or making an impact today; a pioneer, committed colleague or extraordinary aunt. Let’s recognise and celebrate them all!
To support ‘Women on the Shelf’, visit www.womenslibrary.org.uk
Or contact:
Sue John, Strategic Development Manager, Glasgow Women’s Library, 2nd Floor, 81 Parnie Street, Glasgow G1 5RH.
Tel/Fax: 0141 552 8345, email: sue.john@womenslibrary.org.uk
