Feminist Library

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

In Autumn 1989 the library moved to a new venue at 5 Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1.

2003 crisis

The library faced a financial crisis in 2003 when Lambeth Council 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 as of 2025 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.

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

References

1. David, Miriam. (9 December 2010). "Diana Leonard obituary". The Guardian.
2. John, Angela V.. (6 November 2014). "Leonore Davidoff obituary". The Guardian www.theguardian.com.
3. (November 1989). "Noticeboard". Kenric newsletter.
4. (26 February 2007). "Your Feminist Library Needs You!". Londonist.
5. (27 January 2010). "Radical Librarianship Training". Womeninlondon.org.uk.
6. "Adventures of a Radical Feminist Librarian". Radicalfeministlibrarian.wordpress.com.
7. Boland, Stephanie. (2015-02-26). "'She blinded me with library science': why the Feminist Library is more vital than ever".
8. [http://feministlibrary.co.uk/ The Feminist Library: Archiving our herstories since 1975] {{Webarchive. link. (13 October 2009 ''feministlibrary.co.uk''. Retrieved 31 May 2018.)
9. Newsdesk. (2020-01-22). "London Feminist Library to open new Peckham home after being saved from closure {{!}} SWLondoner".
10. "About the library". The Feminist Library.
11. "Feminist Library Pamphlet Collection". Bishopsgate Institute.
12. (8 November 2008). "From Herstory to Ourstory: the Feminist Library". Hagsharlotsheroines.com.