Annika joined us on a 5 week placement in August and September, working with the national lifelong learning and Mixing the Colours projects. Here she talks about her experience:
When I first came across the Glasgow Women’s Library, I immediately became interested in it and decided to spend the better part of my summer in Scotland. So I traded the nice August summer sun back in Germany, where I study history, for the much colder Scottish weather in order to do a placement at GWL.
Now, at the end of my placement trying to recap the last five weeks seems an impossible task.
From the very warm welcome on day one I really enjoyed my time at the library. The warm atmosphere in the library as well as the lovely staff contributed to my unforgettable experience in Glasgow. Everyone I have met here has been so kind and a true inspiration which made lunch breaks and chats over a cup of tea not only very pleasant but also truly inspirational.
During my placement I was involved in a couple of the many projects at the library.
The National Life Long Learning program took me around West of Scotland and the surrounding communities. I helped organising and preparing the workshops which always meant diverse and varied tasks. There was always something fresh and challenging to do for each workshop. Over my involvement in the workshops I did not only learn a lot about the Women’s Library, Glasgow, and Scotland but was also able to meet lots of interesting women from different backgrounds and places. The workshops themselves were a lot of fun as well.
The other project I was mainly involved in, was the Mixing the Colours project on sectarianism. When I started my placement I knew very little (actually nothing at all) about sectarianism, but the topic really got me hooked while I helped with the project.
I did quite a lot of research on the topic, which was very interesting from an academic point of view. But I helped at the workshops as well and there was able to get a more personal, hands on approach to sectarianism which helped me see the topic in a different more true-to-life light. As I met a wide spectrum of women, who shared their stories with us at the workshops, I got a better grasp of how complex and multi-layered not only sectarianism but also the work of the Library (not just on this topic, really) actually is.
Over the course of my five weeks with the Library I got glimpses of other areas of their work as well, as everybody would always be very open and I got included in other tasks as well.
So for example I could join a group of BME women in an art course at the House for an Art Lover which was really a great experience. I could do a bit of touristy sight-seeing while participating at an interesting workshop with interesting women.
And of course I got to come and see the events going on in the Library. Well, not all of them. There are so many that I would not have had time to work at all if I had tried to go to all of them. For example, it was very interesting to meet a Scottish writer introducing her latest novel and to hear a Palestinian poet who travelled all the way to Scotland to read out some of her poems.
There was always so much going on and the five weeks passed by unbelievably fast. I really cannot believe my placement is over already! I will take so much back with me: new knowledge and skills, inspiration and great memories. I also hope that I was able to help the Library and could give a bit back in return for this great experience I had there.
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