Press release: London’s Feminist Library needs to raise £30,000 for a new home
Press Release: For Release Immediate Release, 16th October 2018
London’s Feminist Library needs to raise £30,000 for a new home
They are asking for the public’s support in a Crowdfunder
The much loved, volunteer-run library needs to leave its current premises in Westminster Bridge Road in Spring 2019, as the building is due for redevelopment.
Southwark Council have offered the collective a new building to rent, the Sojourner Truth Community Centre at 161 Summer Road in Peckham.
The building has great potential and they would really like to make this a reality. However it is very expensive to move a library, and to completely refit an old building!
They now need to fundraise urgently and are asking for the public’s support to help raise the £30,000 needed. Without this money the Library may have no option but to close, after 43 years of operation.
They have launched a Crowdfunder campaign, running from 16th October until 9th December 2018. All money raised will go towards fitting out the new space, moving the thousands of books that the Library holds, and the legal costs that come with the massive logistical project that is moving a library.
Please help the Feminist Library to continue and get the home it rightly deserves. Donate now: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/help-the-feminist-library-build-its-new-home
Madga Oldziejewska, a member of the Feminist Library collective said: “The Feminist Library has survived for over 4 decades by the goodwill and passion of our dedicated volunteers and supporters, and with next to no governmental or external funding. We are now counting on the community’s support to make this move happen. Please donate to help us protect this vital community resource.”
Campaign video link: https://vimeo.com/294665284
Hashtag: #feministlibrarynewhome
Exciting Rewards
Donors to the campaign will receive various rewards, including:
£25 – Special edition ‘move’ tote bags
£40 – Feminist Library tote bag and zine bundle
£50 – VIP Tickets to the Grand Opening Party
£60 – Special edition artwork donated by Lucie Russell
£80 – Champagne and Cake Tea at the Library
£120 – Framed limited edition print donated by artist Lucie Russell
£150 – Framed limited edition photographic print by the iconic feminist activist poet and artist Astra Blaug, donated by her son Adam Blaug
£200 – Set of artist’s photographic prints donated by artist Megan Jordan
£300 – Set of 2 paintings on canvass donated by artist Daiane Medeiros
£400 – Set of 3 framed paintings donated by artist Syeda Alishba Amin-ud-Din
£500 – Yourname engraved on your own shelf in our new fabulous space! (choose your section!)
The Urgent Need to Move
The Library has had various homes over the years, but has never had both a stable and adequate space for its valuable collection.
In 2016 it weathered the most recent crisis, when threatened with eviction after a rent rise. Thanks to massive public support, both nationally and internationally, it gained a reprieve. (Read more about the struggle to save the Library here.)
Now however, as the building is due for redevelopment, it has no choice but to move. The management collective need to fundraise urgently for this new home, to be able to keep the Library running. They wish to ask the public to support the Library one more time to make this happen.
Vision for the New Building
This move is opening up a new chapter in the Feminist Library’s ‘herstory’. The management collective’s aim is to give the Library the secure home for the future that it rightly deserves!
The proposed new space is part of the Sojourner Truth Community Centre – named after the famous African-American activist and abolitionist. It is at the heart of the local community – located on Sumner Road in Peckham and is completely wheelchair accessible.
It is 1,500sq ft, which is 50% bigger then their current cramped premises. It will give substantially increased shelving space, as well as office space, and a kitchen to provide food at community events. This will enable them to build on the priceless collection and expand their vibrant community programme, as well as to have new exhibition space to showcase feminist art and archive materials.
The Sojourner Truth Community is also a listed building, which will mean security for years to come, which is much needed for the Library to thrive. They will be sharing the building with a number of other community organisations, including a couple of women’s groups.
Anna Pigott, a Feminist Library volunteer said: “We hope to take this opportunity to make the Library an even more accessible and inclusive feminist space than it has been so far, by welcoming the local community and meeting our new neighbours”
Feminist Design Collective
The Feminist Library is lucky to have an amazing team of feminist architects, designers and makers lined up to work on the project, who are giving their time for free to make the new space possible. The space will be designed by HI-VIS and Lucy Sanderson, and the fittings built by Power Project– collectives of feminist architects, designers and makers, who will also be teaching young women and non-binary people wood and metal work skills while making the Library’s new furniture!
About The Feminist Library
The Feminist Library is much more than just a library! It was founded in 1975 by a small group of passionate volunteers, at the height of the Women’s Liberation Movement, to collect and preserve what has become one of the most important collections of feminist material in the UK.
It has an incomparable collection of over 7,000 books, 1500 periodical titles from around the world, archives of feminist individuals and organisations, pamphlets, papers, posters, and ephemera.
It is a registered charity, mainly volunteer run and completely self-funding. It opens five days a week and welcomes visitors of any gender. It is committed to a community policy that is intersectional, non-sectarian and trans inclusive.
It also provides a space in London for feminists and community groups to have meetings, readings, exhibitions and events, and enables research and activism.It supports not just archiving work, but also publishes its own zines and supports independent producers and artists. It is a vitally important community space.
Notes for Editors:
For more information please contact:
Email: emma@feministlibrary.co.uk with any enquiries.
Tel: 0207 261 0879
Web: www.feministlibrary.co.uk
Feminist Library, 5a Westminster Bridge Road, London, SE1 7XW
Registered Charity No. 1174735
Twitter: @feministlibrary
Facebook: FeministLibrary
Instagram: thefeministlibrary