Opinion and Analysis
9th Jul 2012
Saving The Women’s Library
Remember back in March, when we reported that The Women’s Library was under threat? Well, last week, there was a meeting to discuss its future. Our Beulah Devaney went along to find out what was happening. Here’s her report on what went down:
It’s an old joke but;
Q. Why do women need their own library?
A. Because men have got the British Library.
Earlier this year, London Metropolitan University revealed themselves to be the true Lord Voldemort; The Women’s Library was engulfed in slow magic spell that attempted to mothball a vital institution while feminists across the country engaged in a slow-mo WTF.
After a back-breaking two meetings in three months, the London Met Death Eaters decided that the The Women’s Library was only going to be opened one day a week.
Despite the fact it is the only library in this country where men and women can access the full spectrum of female fiction and non-fiction.
Despite the fact it’s one of the only resources for feminists activists and still one of the only libraries to have a respectable zine collection. As one of the librarians said; The Women’s Library is not antiquarian, it’s alive.
After extreme pressure was applied, London Met decided to sell The Women’s Library off, rather handing it a cyanide capsule and quietly closing the door. Awesome.
Or, yuh know, not. Because actually selling off the collections is bullshit and The Women’s Library was given their building by The National Lottery, not by London Met. Ipso-facto please stop He Who Must Not Be Named-ing all over our library.
So on Friday, there was a meeting to discuss the future of The Women’s Library. I walked in to hear Bea Campbell saying “anybody who writes will find themselves knocking on [The Women’s Library] doors”. There was a trestle table full of booze and a disco ball twinkling on the ceiling. It was an auspicious beginning.
The questions following the traditionally brain-crushingly boring speeches were to be expected. They went along these lines: “Yes, I have a question but first let me tell you about my entire employment history; I’ll do the short version and start in 1979….”
Then they went something like this: “My thoughts on hearing The Women’s Library might close were mainly thoughtful. My feelings, however…”
And then went on to: “Now let me ask you; what happened to the promises that were made by people no one cares about who probably didn’t even exist? Well?!?”
Then someone asked: “What do you want us to do? Do you need coverage? Do you need more pressure to be applied to London Met? Do you need fundraising?”
The response? “Good question, I’m going to cover it at the end once we’ve heard 40 more opposing but equally long-winded theories on the state of higher education”.
The chunks of deliciousness that eventually floated to the top of this incredibly dispiriting meeting were as follows:
Three objectives have been agreed;
1) To maintain the integrity of the collections, rather than letting institutions cherry-pick them.
2) To make sure that the staff and their expertise are safe.
3) To retain The Women’s Library dedicated building.
In addition to that there is a campaigning committee that everyone speaking at this event seemed vaguely embarrassed by.
Retrospectively the questions I should have asked were as follows;
Why do you look surprised that someone has asked what we can do to help?
Why isn’t there a member of the campaign committee here tonight?
Are they… ok?
Why is your Ideas Board black when this entire venue is black?
Why is the Ideas Board hidden behind a curtain?
Why are you camouflaging the Ideas Board?
Why haven’t you given out any contact details for the campaign committee who you say are understaffed and dying for us to help them?
Why haven’t you mentioned the fact that they have a blog and Twitter campaign?
Why didn’t The Women’s Library Facebook page mention this event with more notice than 2pm today?
Are they having a fight with the campaign committee?
Is there… beef?
To clarify, my own beef is with the way this meeting went down, not with The Women’s Library or its amazing staff – I actually got a bit teary when one of the guys started talking about their zine collection.
S0 what do you think, For Books’ Sake readers? Do you feel inspired to get involved or does this all sound a bit confused and disorganised? And if you’ve got the inside scoop, we’d love to know some suggested answers for the above questions…
Beulah Devaney
Sad to hear about this, as with the initial announcement that the library was under threat. It’s such an important institution, and it must be such a frustrating and stressful time for the staff too, who I know from past experiences are so passionate and committed to what they do.
Keeping my fingers crossed that a solution can be reached, and would love it if anyone more closely involved could shed some light on the issues you’ve flagged, and also ways we might be able to help.
Thanks for the Campaign Committee links Beulah! It (the meeting) does seem disorganised and confused, but then more the reason to feel inspired to get involved? I imagine that there are a lot of political behind-the-curtain decisions going on, so information is crucial. As you said, the staff of The Women’s Library and the collections that they are so passionate about are at the heart of this, but probably hold little weight when it comes to the decisions. Huge shame.
I did notice on the Campaign Committee blog and twitter, they described the event as ‘invigorating and uplifting’ – i’d love to hear more from them about how they think the meeting is moving things forward.
Hmmm, thanks for your (supportive? not sure really) blog post. In answer to some of your questions, Beulah, through slightly gritted teeth:
Q: Why isn’t there a member of the campaign committee here tonight?
A: Huh? There were quite a few, some on the stage – maybe they were the ‘boring’ bits you missed of their speeches? Maybe you walked in late after that bit?
Q: Are they… ok?
A: Is that… sarcasm? Or do you really want to know?
Q: Why is your Ideas Board black when this entire venue is black?
A: The front brick of the Women’s Library is that colour. We were not given a large choice of venues and the Rocket was not our preferred option.
Q: Why haven’t you given out any contact details for the campaign committee who you say are understaffed and dying for us to help them?
A: Sorry, we don’t have cards… but a contacts sheet was circulated in the meeting. The email address is:
savetwl86@gmail.com
Q: Why haven’t you mentioned the fact that they have a blog and Twitter campaign?
A: It was mentioned, and indeed the meeting was advertised via those means quite widely. We also have a Facebook group, and you are welcome to post these comments and join the debate yourself there (indeed why not?):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/370426752989975/
Q: Why didn’t The Women’s Library Facebook page mention this event with more notice than 2pm today?
A: Huh? It was first advertised on 27th June, via the blog and on the FB group on the same day. Sorry to learn you’ve only heard about it late in the day. Honestly, try to keep up Beulah …
Q: Are they having a fight with the campaign committee?
A: No, see above.
Q: Is there… beef?
A: No, but there was cake and wine.
Do feel free to get in touch via email, twitter, Facebook or the blog with more (ahem) insightful comments and constructive suggestions…
Cheers, Max
Hi Max, thanks for the feedback and sorry if there was any confusion. Let me clarify:
By highlighting the awful way London Met have behaved, praising the library staff and repeatedly drawing the reader’s attention to the campaign to save The Women’s Library I was being supportive.
1. Yes I was bored but I was also avidly listening for any mention of the campaign and asked other members of the audience if I had in fact missed something. They confirmed I hadn’t.
2. Thanks for providing contact details. A shame no one thought to mention the blog, twitter account or just read out an email address in the meeting but at least its available now.
3. I just looked at the Women’s Library facebook page and the meeting was not mentioned on that day. I know that there is a separate page for the campaign but surely there should be a bit more (or any) promotion from the official page.
When people have travelled across the country and turned out on a Friday night to attend a meeting to save The Women’s Library I personally don’t believe that they need to be told in such (plodding) detail why The Women’s Library is A Good Thing. They get it. Looking down that contact list there were so many people there who could have provided fundraising or promotional assistance. Maybe the meeting should have been more about developing those avenues and less about preaching to the converted.
As Alex mentioned above it would be really great to hear more about the specifics of the campaign (although don’t feel pressured to explain the catering or venue decisions). Thanks for the emoticon as well, love those things
Best, Beulah
How to help? Follow the link to the blog, and at the top of the website there are several things you can do, which we’ve been promoting ie petition, emails, testimonies, etc. http://savethewomenslibrary.blogspot.co.uk/