Glasgow Women's Library » Scotland

Celebrating IWD in Dumbarton

Nisha — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 14:00:02 +0000

The National Lifelong Learning team are heading to Dumbarton for International Women’s Day 2011. We are going to be holding a stall at an event organised by West Dunbartonshire Women Against Violence Partnership. The event is taking place in Dumbarton Municipal Halls, from 3pm-7.30pm.

There will be stalls, workshops, and displays from services and projects in the area all aimed at women but not exclusively focussed on violence against women issues. There will also be the “Violence Against Women 365 International Poster Exhibition” from Ireland on display.

GWL will be hosting our own stall at this event.

Making Space Discussion Event

Nisha — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 11:00:59 +0000

This is a closed event.

This event is the culmination of Phase One of the Making Space project. We wanted to gather together a group of people to discuss issues surrounding public art, public recognition of women in Scotland, and the aims and outcomes of the Making Space project. This group includes GWL staff, volunteers and learners; artists, researchers, and people who work within the arts in Scotland – unfortunately, due to the nature of the event, and the size of our venue, it is invite-only. If you would like to know more about Making Space, and about what we achieve with this event, please visit the Making Space website: www.makingspace.womenslibrary.org.uk.

The Making Space group visits the CCA

A Delayed Update

Nisha — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 17:26:59 +0000

First off, apologies for the lack of posts on this blog over the last few months. The truth is, that after the enormous success of Shauna McMullan’s Blue Spine Collection exhibition and Nicky Bird’s Unsorted Donations event, the Making Space project has been on a bit of a hiatus. We’ve had a very busy summer at Glasgow Women’s Library, when after an extended period of anticipation, we finally packed our bags and boxes and moved into the Mitchell Library. We are now in the former Anderston Library, on 15 Berkeley Street; our new phone number is 0141 248 9969. We’d love to see you, so please feel free to drop by.

But have no fears, Making Space is coming back with a bang. I am absolutely thrilled to reveal that accomplished film-maker Jane McInally is currently working on Making Space: The Movie (official title not yet available)! The film will feature photographs, audio clips, and video footage of the many stages of Making Space, from the selection of artists to their final exhibitions. If all goes to plan, it will be possible to access the film from this website in the near future.

We are also looking forward to 2 events over the next couple of weeks. We are going to have a celebratory lunch for the Making Space group, to say a big thank you for all the help they gave us with ideas, feedback, and even participation in the final artworks. The group will be first in line to view the Making Space film, after all, they have been the entertaining, enthusiastic and rather essential stars of the show!

Next up, GWL is proud to host the Making Space discussion event. Since the launch of the project, a symposium has been one of the most important things on our agenda. We wanted the chance to discuss our ideas about encouraging diverse women to participate in the arts; and to voice our concerns over the lack of public/permanent representation of women’s cultural contributions in Glasgow. (Did you know there are only 3 statues of women in Glasgow? Do you know who they are?)

We have invited key people involved in the arts, in education, in policy-making and politics, and in equalities and women’s issues, as well as members of the Making Space group and the GWL staff and volunteer team. We want to get everyone together and get talking, with the help of Shauna and Nicky who will be giving presentations on their work and what has been achieved with Making Space so far. The most important aim is to show everyone how important it is for us to reach Phase 2 of the project: to create a new public artwork for Scotland!

Library visitors from around Scotland – Women in Public Life group, Falkirk

Morag — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 10:13:42 +0000

The WEA Women in Public Life group from Falkirk are the latest national group to visit GWL in our new premises. This community based learning group have researched the history of the suffragettes in Falkirk and are currently working on an environmental project. After an introductory visit from Morag, the library’s national lifelong learning development worker, the group wanted to see the library for themselves.
We arranged a behind the scenes tour of the Mitchell Library and Hannah, our archivist, showed the group some of the items we have in our archive, including anti-suffragette postcards, a suffragette clock and an original copy of the Suffragette Post from 1913.

Hannah introduces items from the archive

The group and GWL staff really enjoyed the visit. We asked them what they thought of the library and what they would like to see here in the future. Here are a few of their comments:
“Had a wonderful day, so friendly and interesting, meeting like-minded women..would like to see sofas and coffee and help to access material and do research”
“..It will be nice to see the library finished..to sit and read about some of the famous women and have a tea room and chat to other people to see where they come from and their culture”
“enjoyed my day very much, interesting and stimulating..have found myself wishing I lived nearer to such a wonderful resource”

The library is a national resource, so it’s always great to see women from across Scotland visiting our space. If you are part of a group from outside Glasgow and would like to arrange a visit, just get in touch with us on info@womenslibrary.org.uk

Whom Dykes Divide

Wendy Kirk — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 08:59:53 +0000

Helen recommends:
Whom Dykes Divide by Helen Crummie

A novel telling the history of women and children coal bearers and miners in Craigmillar and Newcraighall. Tells of the appalling conditions and eventual changes from the early years of coal mining.

Researching Women’s History in Clydebank

Nisha — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 11:30:46 +0000

Would you like to find out more about women in the Blitz; the suffragettes in Clydebank; the Singer factory strikers; and women who worked in the shipyards? Jane Rae, Mary Haldane, Jenny Hyslop – do you know the stories of these women? Or maybe there is another woman from Clydebank’s past you would like to know more about…

Press Tool Operators

It doesn’t matter if you’ve never done anything like this before – the course is suitable for beginners and will show you how to research women’s history in your local area. It will also include fact finding visits to local museums and archives. Who knows, you might uncover a new Clydebank heroine!

The course starts Wednesday 6th October, 1.00pm-3.00pm, at Dalmuir Community Centre, Duntocher Road, Clydebank, G81 4RQ. It will run for 10 weeks and is free of charge as long as you have an Individual Learning Account. If you don’t already have an ILA, we can help you register for one.

If you would like to find out more about the course, or would like help with ILA registration for the course, then why not come along to our free taster session:

Wednesday 22nd September, 12.30-2.30pm

The Hub Community Centre
Kilbowie Road
Clydebank

This course is run by Glasgow Women’s Library in partnership with DACE at Glasgow University with support from: West Dunbartonshire Council Community Learning and Development; Clydebank Library; and Clydebank Museum.

Please note: The times and location of this course have been changed. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Callout: Second-wave feminism in NE Scotland, 1972-1990

Nisha — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:43:33 +0000

Glasgow Women’s Library needs your stories! Were you:

- involved in Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp?
- active in the socialist and feminists movements between 1972-1990?
- active in the North-East of Scotland around the same time?

We are currently gathering oral histories to feature as part of an International Women’s Day 2011 event in Aberdeen. The event will also showcase campaign materials, minutes, badges and other artefacts, photographs, personal letters and diaries. This exciting exhibition will become part of a permanent collection in the GWL Archives.

Greenham Common Banner

We will be recording oral histories in the North-East of Scotland from July 2010 onwards, and accepting donations of relevant materials towards the end of 2010 (unfortunately no earlier than this, due to our imminent move to the Mitchell Library).

If you would like to contribute to the essential preservation of this important history, please contact Morag Smith, National Lifelong Learning Development Worker by email: morag.smith@womenslibrary.org.uk or telephone: 0141 552 8345.

All contributions will be subject to the conditions of Glasgow Women’s Library oral history copyright clearance and deposit policy. It will be necessary for all contributors to complete an oral history copyright clearance and deposit form.

Blue Spine exhibition

Nisha — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 10:00:33 +0000

Shauna McMullan and Glasgow Women’s Library are proud to present the exhibition of Blue Spine in the Jeffrey Room at the Mitchell Library, Glasgow. It is a one day installation on Saturday 19th June, open from 11am-4pm. If you contributed to the Blue Spine project, you are invited to take part in a group photograph at 3pm in the Jeffrey Room.

Blue Spine is a collective project, involving contributions from hundreds of women across Scotland. If you would like more information, please follow this link: http://makingspace.womenslibrary.org.uk/2010/03/31/blue-spine-invite/

This is a free event and booking is not necessary, but we would appreciate if you could let us know if you are coming, either by phone (0141 552 8345) or email (info@womenslibrary.org.uk). Thank you.

Blue Spine exhibition – 19 June 2010

Nisha — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:22:22 +0000

This is a free event and booking is not necessary, but we would appreciate if you could let us know if you are coming, either by phone (0141 552 8345) or email (info@womenslibrary.org.uk). Thank you.

One Small Step

Nisha — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 09:00:11 +0000

Women’s Walking event: Inspiring and engaging culturally diverse women into walking.

One Small Step is a free national event for women across Scotland, hosted by Glasgow Women’s Library and Paths For All.

This event offers an informative and inspirational day for those who want to find out more about developing walks for women. The aim of the day is to inspire the development of new and existing walking groups; and to encourage the involvement of women of all ages and backgrounds, particularly women from BME and other hard-to-reach communities.

Walking is increasingly being recognised as an inclusive and cost effective way to increase confidence and social contacts and improve physical and mental health.

Glasgow Women’s Library have organised a number of successful women’s heritage walks in Glasgow and now support groups across Scotland in developing women’s heritage walks. They also offer a unique lifelong learning programme to women in Glasgow and across Scotland.

Paths For All is the national charity promoting walking for health and the development of a multi-use path network in Scotland. It is the leading national organisation promoting the health benefits of walking and supporting people in walking for health.

10am-4pm, Tuesday 23rd March 2010, Mitchell Library, Glasgow

If you are interested in this event, please download the forms below. Once you have completed the Booking Form and the Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form, please send it to info@womenslibrary.org.uk. Or you can send it by post to 81 Parnie Street, Glasgow, G1 5HW. If you would like any more information about the event, please call us on 0141 552 8345.

Places are limited, so book soon to avoid disappointment!

Download: One Small Step Conference Information

Download: One Small Step Booking Form

Download: Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form