Update November 2019

Good News! We have just signed the lease for our new home at 161 Summer Road in Peckham!

New Building Lease Signed

After a successful fundraising campaign earlier this year and over a year of hard work, we are very pleased to announce that we have now signed the lease on its new building – the Sojourner Truth Community Centre at 161 Sumner Road in Peckham.

Feminist Library management group member Ayesha at the keys handover
Feminist Library management group member Ayesha at the key handover

Westminster Bridge Road has been our home since 1987 until recent plans to redevelop the building left us facing closure. A very successful Crowdfunder saw the public give over £65,000 to save the Library and will enable the moving of the collection, the refitting of the new space, and all other associated costs.

In collaboration with an amazing team of women and non-binary architects, designers and makers, the Library collective is now starting the process of refitting the building and moving the stock and is looking forward to a series of opening events. These will include a special evening celebration on 31st January prioritising those who donated to the Crowdfunder and a second event on 1st February – a big opening party for all to celebrate the Library’s new home. The line-up will include readings, performances, music, and refreshments! More details and of these and other events to follow soon …

Full press release here

 

Update April 2019:Crowdfunder  Success
You have helped make the new home for the Feminist Library possible

 On 31st March we came to the end of our exciting Crowdfunder journey! As we close this amazing period we would like to extend massive thanks to the whole Crowdfunder UK team, all of our donors, our fabulous design team, all our dedicated volunteers, and everyone who has supported us along the way. It wouldn’t have been such an incredible success story without the support we have received from the community, so we will remain eternally grateful.

Together, we have raised:

  • nearly £49,000! which is
  • 163% of our initial target! and
  • 102% of our stretch target!
  • as well as over £20,000 in off-line donations!

We have now covered the full budget for Feminist Library move! This is wonderful news, which means we can start getting the new home of Feminist Library ready very soon – and it will be beautiful!

This weekend, we had a crafternoon / volunteers social and celebrated this massive win with some of our wonderful team.

In the next couple of weeks, we hope to start works on the new space and make it ready for the opening. We are still in process of finalising the timelines of the move, but we will let everyone know once these have been settled. So watch this space for dates of our big opening party!

As we get ready to say goodbye to our home of 33 years, we also take a bit of a trip down memory lane. Our current Library home – getting ready for the move, all packed up and in boxes – looks like this at the moment; as seen by one of our amazing creative volunteers and the artist behind our move dragon, Pops Comixs.

If you would like to support the Library financially on a more ongoing basis please consider becoming a Friend with a small monthly donation.

Update February 2019: Help us reach our stretch target by 31st March! 

Thanks to you we smashed our initial £30,000 Crowdfunder target! This will enable us to move the Library and cover the basic refit of the new building. We have also received close to £20,000 in off-line donations, from generous Trade Union branches, feminist organisations and individual donors. We are immensely grateful to each and every supporter.

We now have a stretch target with the aim of raising £65,000 to cover the whole cost of the refit! Although we have raised enough to ensure our collection is safe, we really need this final amount to make a proper home for the Library. Due to offline donations, we only need to reach  £48,000 online to reach this goal. Please do donate, we are very nearly there!

We have until 31st March to reach our final target – you can help us by spreading the word of our Crowdfunder campaign to your friends and relatives: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/help-the-feminist-library-build-its-new-home/

Update October 2018: We need to raise £30,000 for a new home – Press release here 

We are very excited to announce that we have found a new home to move into, the Sojourner Truth Community Centre at 161 Summer Road in Peckham. The building has great potential, but it is very expensive to move a library!

We are launching a Crowdfunder campaign, running from 16th October until 9th December 2018. We need to fundraise urgently and are asking for your support to help raise the £30,000 needed. All money raised will go towards fitting out the new space, moving the thousands of books, and the legal costs of moving a library.

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 external funding. We are now counting on the community’s support to make this move happen. Please give what you can, help protect this much loved community resource and preserve Feminist Herstory.

Massive thanks to everyone who has supported us so far on this journey, signed our petition, donated and volunteered, it has made an enormous difference. We look forward to your continuing support for the next exciting phase of our journey.

Support our move – Become a Friend
Our fight is far from over, as we still need to fundraise to afford higher rental costs, to make our units ready, and provide new shelving and other equipment.

If you love the Feminist Library and would like to see us continue, please consider becoming a Friend.

From as little as £3 a month (or the equivalent each year), you can help preserve Feminist Herstory and our priceless collection of books, periodicals and archives.

Like to know more? Please email friends@feministlibrary.co.uk

The Urgent Need to Move:
We need to leave our current premises in Westminster Bridge Road in Spring 2019, as the building is due for redevelopment. We have no choice but to move and so urgently need to make the new building fit for purpose. Without this money the Library may have no option but to close, after 43 years of operation.

Past Campaign:
Feminist Library 'Read In' ProtestOn December 23rd 2015, Southwark Council asked for an immediate increase in rent from £12,000 to £30,000 a year. This dramatic increase meant that we faced eviction on 1st March 2016. (Press release here)

We launched a wide-scale campaign to fight the council’s decision, gaining international support, positive media coverage and 16000 signatures to our ‘save the library’ petition. We also held a successful ‘read in’ protest, where members of the public gathered to read feminist books.

Thanks to this massive show of support we had a reprieve, but now as the building is due for redevelopment we need to finally move premises.

You can help:

  • Donate to our Crowdfunder campaign.
  • Become a Friend and set up a regular donation. Regular donations, even small ones, help us to make future plans.
  • Ask your union branch to make a donation to our fund (we can supply a draft motion).
  • Put on a fundraising or support event.
  • Show support on Facebook and Twitter, and tell your friends how much the library means to you.
  • Include a legacy for the Library in your will.
  • Visit the library to browse, use our collection for research or arrange a student visit.
  • Volunteer: we have always been volunteer led, with collective organising and skill-sharing at the core of our values.  Volunteering with us gives you a chance to make an immeasurably valuable contribution, and to meet a like-minded group of people
  • Cheques should be made payable to “The Feminist Library” and should be sent to The Feminist Library, 5a Westminster Bridge Road, London, SE1 7XW.

 

What we do

  • We have 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.
  • We have space for meetings, readings, exhibitions and events, a space which supports and encourages research, activism and community projects
  • We are volunteer led, as we have been for all our life
  • We are intergenerational, being significant custodians of our feminist heritage, whilst looking to the future
  • We are a registered charity, and completely self-funding
  • We publish our own zines and support independent producers by archiving and selling their material.
  • Our approach is intersectional – we provide a space for different feminisms to co-exist.

But all of this is in danger – our situation is emblematic of the climate of austerity, with many libraries and women’s organisations being forced to close, and pressure on all community resources coming from rocketing property prices, especially in London.

As the feminist movement of today grows, The Feminist Library can safeguard its history, and be part of its future.  But we cannot do this without the support of the wider community.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or want to discuss further, please get in touch.
5 Westminster Bridge Road, London, SE1 7XW
020 7261 0879
admin@feministlibrary.co.uk