The Feminist Library is a large archive collection of feminist literature, which is based in Peckham, London. We support research, activist and community projects in this field. The Library is trans-inclusive, welcomes visitors of any gender, does not require registration or membership, and provides an intersectional space for the exploration of feminism. You can view our our Community Policy here.

Our History

Originally known as the Women’s Research and Resources Centre (WRRC), the Feminist Library was set up in 1975, at the height of the Women’s Liberation Movement (WLM), a time of intense political campaigning and lively collective organising. The Feminist Library has had a succession of ever larger homes, including above Sisterwrite Bookshop in Upper Street, next to Spare Rib in Clerkenwell Close, and above A Woman’s Place on the Embankment, moving to Westminster Bridge Road in Southwark after the GLC was abolished in 1986, and then to Sumner Road in Peckham in late 2019.

In common with most underfunded feminist organisations, the Library has faced a variety of crises and uncertainties over the years, and has not been able to afford paid workers for most of its life. However, the library collective has kept the library running through cooperative events, collections work and connections with the feminist community. The Awards for All grant in 2010, which enabled the Librarians for Tomorrow training programme, was another sign of the future health of the Library.

Since the Library’s beginnings, it has provided a place where people could network and educate themselves, and has become a contact point for people locally, nationally and internationally committed to intersectional feminism.

The Feminist Library is a registered charity 1174735 (formerly 272410)

Company no. CE012267