Glasgow Women's Library is a
public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants.
There are ...
, registered company and charity based in the
Bridgeton area of
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...
, Scotland. It is the only accredited museum dedicated to women's history and provides information relevant to women's culture and achievements. It tries to operate on
feminist principles. The library was awarded Recognised Collection of National Significance to Scotland status in 2015, as the collection contains valuable resources pertaining to women and their lives. In 2018, it was shortlisted for Museum of the Year. The museum supplies and encourages training and education, as well as skill-sharing via volunteers and/or staff.
History
The Women's Library was established in 1991.
The original library was housed in a shop front in
Garnethill on the corner of Hill and Dalhousie Street. It evolved from the 'Women in Profile' project, whose aim was to ensure the visibility of women in the programming of Glasgow,
European City of Culture year. By 2016 the number of paid staff had reached 22, along with 100 volunteers.
In 2010 the library moved to the
Mitchell Library
The Mitchell Library is a large public library and centre of the City Council public library system of Glasgow, Scotland.
History
The library, based in the Charing Cross district, was initially established in Ingram Street in 1877 following a ...
in the Charing Cross area of the city, occupying the space formally used by the Anderston Library. Following a decision taken in 2012, it moved to more suitable premises in Landressy Street in Bridgeton, the former site of Bridgeton Library, which was a B listed
Carnegie Library built in 1903. The move was completed in November 2015, after two years of renovation work.
Collective Architecture were responsible for the refurbishment which included an innovative external lift shaft incorporating book titles. The new library was officially opened on 7 November 2015 by
Nicola Sturgeon.
Co-founder Dr.
Adele Patrick
Adele Patrick is an artist, feminist and the co-founder of the Glasgow Women's Library. In 2011, she became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and in 2015, she was awarded Scotswoman of the Year.
Biography
Patrick studied Embroidered and Wove ...
won the Scottish Woman of the Year award in 2015, and a Woman of the Year in 2016.
File:23 Landressy Street - Glasgow Women's Library.jpg, External lift shaft incorporating book titles
File:Flag outside the Glasgow Women's Library.jpg, Flag outside the Glasgow Women's Library
Collections and projects

The library is the UK's only accredited museum concerned with women's history, and was awarded Recognised Collection of National Significance to Scotland status in 2015. The collection includes Suffragette memorabilia, knitting and dress making patterns from the 1930s, Girls' annuals c.1950s to 1980s and Scottish Women's Liberation newsletters from the 1970s.
Amongst its archival collections is the
Lesbian Archive which is one of the most important LGBT collections in the UK.
The library houses the National Museum of
Roller Derby
Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played by two teams of fifteen members. Roller derby is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, mostly in the United States.
Game play consists of a series of short scrimmages (j ...
; a sport which was pioneered by women. It includes sports equipment, programmes and publications including the magazine ''Inline''.
In 2011, and in celebration of their 21st birthday in 2012, the library launched the ''21 Revolutions'' project, commissioning a group of 21 artists and 21 writers, including
Janice Galloway
Janice Galloway (born 1955 in Saltcoats, Scotland) is a Scottish writer of novels, short stories, prose-poetry, non-fiction and libretti.
Biography
She is the second daughter of James Galloway and Janet Clark McBride. Her parents separated whe ...
and
Denise Mina
Denise Mina (born 21 August 1966) is a Scottish crime writer and playwright. She has written the ''Garnethill'' trilogy and another three novels featuring the character Patricia "Paddy" Meehan, a Glasgow journalist. Described as an author of ...
, to make work inspired by their collection. The work was published in a book of the same name.
In 2015 the library nominated
The Suffragette Oak
The Suffragette Oak is a Hungarian oak tree (''Quercus frainetto'') in Kelvingrove Park in Glasgow, planted in 1918. It was named Scotland's Tree of the Year in 2015.
History
The tree was planted in Kelvingrove Park by Louisa Lumsden on be ...
, a tree in
Kelvingrove Park
Kelvingrove Park is a public park located on the River Kelvin in the West End of the city of Glasgow, Scotland, containing the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
History
Kelvingrove Park was originally created as the West End Park in 1852, an ...
, for the Woodland Trust Scottish Tree of the Year award. The oak tree went on to win the award and was then a nominee in the 2016 European Tree of the Year awards.
In 2017 the library, working with YouthLink Scotland, displayed research on inspirational women from five communities. The project was supported by the
Heritage Lottery Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom.
History
The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
.
The library is home to an expanding
zine
A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very s ...
collection, which helps document the lives and experiences of women. The collection includes comics and political publications as well as personal and music zines. The library runs regular workshops to raise awareness of zines and encourage women to make their own.
Services
Glasgow Women's Library is free to join and provides clubs, events, courses and workshops. This includes an
adult literacy
Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values.Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralp ...
and
numeracy
Numeracy is the ability to understand, reason with, and to apply simple numerical concepts. The charity National Numeracy states: "Numeracy means understanding how mathematics is used in the real world and being able to apply it to make the be ...
project, a Black and Minority Ethnic Women’s Project and a lending library. The archives include historical and contemporary artefacts relating to women's lives and achievements. The group provide guided walks around Glasgow through the "Women Make History" project highlighting local women like
Big Rachel.
Scotland's
virtual reference scheme,
Ask Scotland, has allowed questions to be posed online and referred to the Glasgow Women's Library since 2011.
[ Ask Scotland website]
The library regularly hosts exhibitions ranging from work by
outsider art
Outsider art is art made by self-taught or supposedly naïve artists with typically little or no contact with the conventions of the art worlds. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Often, outsider art illustrates ...
ists or students at
GSA
GSA may refer to:
Commerce
* Citroën GSA, a French automobile
* GameSpy Arcade, a utility for use with network computer games
* General sales agent, an airline sales representative
* Global mobile Suppliers Association, a not-for-profit industry ...
, to established artists and items from the library's collections. Recently due to the
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...
pandemic the exhibitions and other regular events have been held online.
See also
*
Fawcett Society
The Fawcett Society is a membership charity in the United Kingdom which campaigns for women's rights. The organisation dates back to 1866, when Millicent Garrett Fawcett dedicated her life to the peaceful campaign for women's suffrage. Original ...
, a UK-wide charity and pressure group
*
Feminist Library, in London
*
Women's Library
The Women's Library is England's main library and museum resource on women and the women's movement, concentrating on Britain in the 19th and 20th centuries. It has an institutional history as a coherent collection dating back to the mid-1920s, ...
, London (now held at the LSE)
*
Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom
A movement to fight for women's right to vote in the United Kingdom finally succeeded through acts of Parliament in 1918 and 1928. It became a national movement in the Victorian era. Women were not explicitly banned from voting in Great Brita ...
*
Women's writing (literary category)
The academic discipline of women's writing is a discrete area of literary studies which is based on the notion that the experience of women, historically, has been shaped by their sex, and so women writers by definition are a group worthy of sepa ...
References
{{Authority control
1991 establishments in Scotland
Arts organizations established in 1991
Bridgeton–Calton–Dalmarnock
Charities based in Glasgow
Libraries in Glasgow
Public libraries in Scotland
Women's organisations based in Scotland